2007 Favorites

Our editors and columnists picked some of our favorite Literary Mama writing of 2007. We loved reading through our archives to assemble this list; take a look and revisit a favorite, or discover a piece that you missed!

Columns Doing It Differently tries to let go; The Girl Is Mine tries to say no. Single Mom Seeking faces her toughest critic; Far From Cool reflects on one of our own. Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance leaves town; Under the Saharan Sun returns home; Life In the Sandwich goes on vacation, Down Will Come Baby tries to rise to the occasion. Children's Lit Book Group reflects on sad stories, while Red Diaper Dharma remembers her abortion, and Faces of Motherhood describes how she became That Mom. Twelve Step Mama takes her first step, Special Needs Mama talks to the mother at the swings and Mama at the Movies spends a day with other writing mamas.

Creative Nonfiction
Brooklyn Bridge by Stephanie Williamson; Bitter, Sweet by Kathryn Lynard Soper; Mom Memory by Gail Gauthier; Wonder Mold Mother by Lisa Hardman; My Wild Child by Cassie Premo Steele; Losing Thomas by Stephanie Schlitz; A Kite in November by Kathy Moran; and Wanting, Waiting by Violeta Garcia-Mendoza.

Fiction Take Care by Lisa Solod Warren; Sand in her Shoes by Penny Feeny; Stillness by Andi Diehn; Hope by Susannah Pabot; Slipping by Jennifer Robinson; I Try to Behave Myself by Stephanie Friedman; Au Pair in Alabama by Tua Laine; The Way Houdini Died by Miriam Fried; The Lion in the Garden by Mona McKinlay; An Outing for Betty by Joyce Hicks; and The Girl at the Side of the Road by Peggy Duffy.

Literary Reflections Fine: On Maternity and Mortality by Julia Kasdorf; Why Mother Pigs Eat Their Young by Kristin Reed; Talking to Ourselves and Other Necessities of Adult Life by Maria Jerinic; Fire, Aphasia, and the Spirit World by Deborah Bacharach; and This is Where You Write by Jennifer Ruden.

Poetry To My Third Child (A Son, Unborn) by Angela Pineiro; The Ripe Time by January O'Neil; SIDS by Jamie Calloway; She is Four Months Old by Kim H. Cardoso; bone of my bone by larry bauer; Never by Claudia Putnam; Sins of Omission: Remembrance for a Birthday by Suzanne Richardson Harvey; Waiting, at 30 weeks by Elizabeth C. Dorsch Maxey; and The Seven-Year-Old by Stefanie Freele.

Profiles Fellow novelist, poet, and blogger Karen DeGroot Carter spoke with Patry Francis about what it's like to be a writing mother, the challenges and rewards of blogging, the inspiration behind her debut novel, and how she stays grounded in the midst of success.

Reviews The Nanny 411: A Review of Searching for Mary Poppins: Women Write About the Intense Relationship Between Mothers and Nannies, Edited by Susan Davis and Gina Hyams. Reviewed by Rachel Iverson.