This weekend, I got on a plane for the first time in over four years. To go out of the country. Without my daughter. With lots of other mamas. I’m talking about the Association for Research on Mothering (ARM) Conference at York University in Toronto where hundreds of scholars, activists, and writers from all over the world came together to talk about the motherhood movement. You should have been there. But if you weren’t, check out this great video.
If you feel like you missed out, submit a proposal for the next ARM conference this May in New York City -- an event in conjunction with Mamapalooza! You won't regret it!
"Mama's Boy" columnist Jessica Berger Gross' anthology About What Was Lost: 20 Writers on Miscarriage, Healing and Hope is featured in Cookie magazine. Read the article here.
damselfly press seeks to promote exceptional writing by women whose voices have not yet been heard. We welcome work from female writers of all backgrounds and experiences. We accept fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that is honest and daring, and explores the relationship between dualities. Joy, pain. Boldness, vulnerability. Sacred, profane. Be passionate about your writing, and explore the truth that lies within. There is truth even in fiction; make us believe what you have to say.
We read year round.
Please send online submissions only with the genre in the header of the e-mail.
Submissions must be in a Microsoft® Word document or .RTF attachment.
Please include writer’s contact information on a separate cover page.
We are unable to provide compensation to writers for accepted submissions at this time.
If a writer’s work initially appears in damselfly press and is later published elsewhere, we request an acknowledgement.
Fiction- Send 9-10 pages of fiction not to exceed 2,500 words max. Submitters may send up to two fictional stories per submission to the fiction editor.
Poetry- Send 1-3 poems per submission to the poetry editor.
Nonfiction- Send 3-10 pages of nonfiction not to exceed 2,500 words max. Submitters may send up to two nonfiction submissions such as memoir or personal essays to the nonfiction editor.
Writers must include bios not to exceed 50 words.
We do not accept previously published work.
For writers whose work has been accepted by our journal, please refrain from re-submitting up to a year after publication.
Call for Papers
Submit abstracts for papers or panels
Approximately 750 words
Due January 31, 2009, at 5:00 p.m.
E-mail submissions or questions to
PCM_Conference@yahoo.com
Include a cover sheet with name, institution, department,and contact information. Document should be submitted in MS Word (.doc file). For further details and registration information, please link to:
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Hosted by the University of Oregon and the Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Mothering Research Group. Sponsorship provided by the University of Oregon Graduate School, the Center for the Study of Women in Society, the Oregon Humanities Center, the University of Oregon Department of
Philosophy, and the Graduate Student Philosophy Club.
Check out the latest book by Tamar Chansky....an earlier book of Dr. Chansky's called, "Freeing Your Child From Anxiety" was extremely helpful to my family.
Dr. Chansky says,
"As a child psychologist I know it's one thing to give lip service to the idea that failure is "good" for kids, it is wholly another to know how to contain a child melting in the face of a grade, girlfriend, or race gone wrong. So, in this book I teach parents exactly how to handle themselves and their children when disasters real or imagined hit. Truly, in these high stakes times of college rejections, being cut from little league teams etc, children need to know how to fail successfully so they can persevere and prevail."
Tamar Chansky, Ph.D., has done it again—written another incredibly helpful, practical book. “Freeing Your Child From Negative Thinking” offers specific strategies for parents (or any adult) to use with children and describes variations on these strategies for younger children and older adolescents. Every parent who has a pessimistic, negativistic child should read this book! As parents use the thinking and behavioral strategies that Dr. Chansky recommends, they will undoubtedly find that they themselves are becoming more optimistic and positive, not only toward their child but also more generally in their own lives. I highly recommend this wonderful book.
—Judith S. Beck, Ph.D.
I am currently setting the Agnus Dei from the liturgical mass for male voices and piano and am looking for supplemental words from a living poet to compliment the Latin text. If interested, please send your work to shelbypug@hotmail.com. This is not competition – no prize award, but you will be credited in the completed work.
BF s. Frenemies. Gal pals. Female friendships are such a unique, fragile entity that there are even words made up to describe them.
And if you’re female and reading this, you know all too well exactly why. From the best friend who drops everything for you, to the subtle (or not-so-subtle) underminer, to the one you know will agree with you no matter what, to the one you turn to for the truth about how you really look in those pants, our female friends are our backbones, our saviors, our laugh-so-hard-you-cry-with pals, and sometimes our worst enemies.
Have you ever wanted to tell your former BF how you really feel? Longed to tell The Friend Who Got Away that you were sorry for the way you snubbed her in 8th grade for the popular crowd? Wish you could tell your friend what you really think about her husband? After all, you’ve dished to everyone within earshot, why not address her directly? Well, here’s your chance. For Girl Talk: 25 Open Letters to Our Female Friends, we’re looking for a wide range of stories, in a letter format.
Letter topics will include ( just some general ideas to help you brainstorm):
• the one who got away
• the one who you can turn to for anything
• the one who will always tell you the truth
• the one from whom you’ve kept a secret all these years
• the one from childhood that you’ve lost touch with
• the one who died young
• the one who did you wrong
• the one who constantly puts you down, leaving you wondering if it’s just you
The Fine Print:
WHO Send submissions to editor Megan McMorris at megmc@earthlink.net.
WHEN Deadline for submissions is January 15. Book will be published in Fall ‘09.
HOW LONG We aim for a variety of lengths, but try and keep it in the 1,000 to 3,000 range.
WHY Besides the fun experience of writing the letter you’ve always wanted to send, contributors will receive $100 payable upon publication and two copies of the book (please note: you do keep your copyright, and contributors are encouraged to publish them
as excerpts elsewhere).
Check out the Media Bistro mention of LM columnist, Bare Breasted Mama:
When Gail Konop Baker showed up at an impromptu interview wearing a T-shirt like the one on the cover of her new memoir, Cancer Is a Bitch, we were curious: Between the cover artist and the T-shirt designer, who'd inspired who? She told us that the book's cover had come about very late in the process, after she'd turned down four or five other ideas—until this design came along, she was sure they were going to wind up with a minimalist words-only cover à la Miranda July. "It was almost hard to look at at first," she said of the highly stylized version of herself. "I thought, 'Is that supposed to be me?'"
A River & Sound Review announces its first reading period. From Oct. 1 thru Dec. 31, RSR will accept submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and humor to be considered for inclusion in the forthcoming RSR online literary journal.
All submissions will be accepted via e-mail: Visit
www.riverandsoundreview.org/submitRSR.htm for details. For more information on A River & Sound Review, or to download a podcast of past RSR shows and performances, visit www.riverandsoundreview.org.
Foreword by Carolyn Lesser, Webster University, St. Louis, MO, nonfiction writing faculty; natural science children's books published by Harcourt, Alfred A. Knopf; essayist, poet, photographer, keynote speaker, artist.
Afterword by Dr. Loriene Roy, 2007-2008 President of the American Library Association. Professor, University of Texas at Austin, founder of "If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything," a national reading club for Native American children.
Please consider sharing the important milestones, life changing events, transitions in your life--material that would broadly fit the "Women's Studies" genre that is highly readable, moving and relatable. There are the passages that occur to us (for example, losing a loved one, and then the passages we choose (such as adopting a child). Please focus on those pivotal moments and why they were important passages for you.
Currently, we have enough material on: chronic/acute illness; getting a degree; career changes; relocating.
Suggestions for topics as of yet relatively unexplored: changing/leaving/going back to a new or former religion or mode of spirituality (no preaching, please); how participation in outdoor adventure changed your life; milestones about deciding to be true to yourself (such as coming out, ending a negative friendship, setting healthy boundaries).
This book celebrates our passages as women, from one moment into another, from one door to the next. Often it is after the navigation, that in reflection, we see that some of the most difficult are the ones we have learned the most and have had lasting effects as well on those around us.
Send proposed topics before writing articles to avoid duplication; proposed topics must be accompanied by a 65-70 word bio with your present position, location, relevant publications, career highlights for the contributor page; please use POETS or PASSAGES/your name on the subject line to brackett-vincent@encirclepub.com by November 15, 2008.
Article specifics: word total for 1-2 articles based on your experience: 1,900 minimum; maximum 2,100. Two articles preferred. If submitting two articles, please break them up fairly evenly in word count.
No previously published or simultaneously submitted material. Contributors must be reside in the U.S. Books such as this can typically take up to a year to compile. Contributors receive a complimentary copy and contributor's discount on additional copies.
Co-editor Cynthia Brackett-Vincent is publisher/editor of the esteemed Aurorean poetry journal; poetry instructor; award-winning poet; author of The 95 Poems chapbook (2005) and contributor to Educators as Writers: Publishing for Personal and Professional Development. In 2007, her poems received a citation, honorable mention and second place in the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, New England Writers and Maine Poets Society competitions. View Cynthia at
Co-editor, Carol Smallwood has written, co-authored, and edited 19 books such as Educators as Writers for Scarecrow, Libraries Unlimited. An award-winning writer, her work has appeared in English Journal, Clackamas Literary Review, Iris, and several others including anthologies; chapbook, Pudding House 2008; Educators as Writers,Peter Lang 2006;
and http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-3575-3
Foreword: Robbi Hess, Journalist, co-author, Complete Idiot's Guide to 30,000 Baby Names (Penguin Books); Editor, Byline Magazine
Afterword: Melanie Mayo-Laakso, Writer, Publisher and
Editor, MotherVerse: A Journal of Contemporary Motherhood
This is a book about writing and publishing about family by women with family publication credits. Possible subjects: markets; why women write about family; using life experience; networking; unique issues women must overcome; formal education; queries and proposals; conference participation; self-publishing; teaching tips; family in creative nonfiction, poetry, short stories, novels. Contributors have already covered: blogs, using family history, managing time, privacy issues.
Practical, concise, how-to articles with bullets/headings have proven the most helpful to readers. Please avoid writing about "me" and concentrate on what will help the reader. A question and answer format for interviews may be used.
Two articles each 950-1050 words; minimum 1900, maximum 2100 words total. No previously published or simultaneously submitted material or co-authors.
The deadline for current cycle of submissions is November 15, 2008.
Contributors receive a complimentary copy and contributor's discount on additional copies. It is common for compilation of an anthology to take upwards of a year, but I will be in touch with updates on securing a publisher.
Editor: Carol Smallwood has written, co-authored, and edited 19 books such as Educators as Writers (Peter Lang, 2006); chapbook, (Pudding House 2008); The Published Librarian (American Library Association, forthcoming). My work has appeared in English Journal, Clackamas Literary Review, Iris, The Detroit News, several others including anthologies; a recent book is http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-3575-3
Please send topics for feedback/65-70 word bio. Place FAMILY and your name on the subject line, send to: smallwood@tm.net
Most publishers return rights to contributors after publication. Contributors will be asked to sign a release from the publisher and therefore may agree to the details of the contract or withdraw.
Edited collection seeking essays about student experiences in “free” or alternative schools. Despite many current debates about education(Charter Schools, accountability, “No Child Left Behind,” national standards, etc.), there has been little attention paid to students who have experienced education without tests, grades, assigned curriculum, or other forms of external pressure to learn. What does self-directed learning look like? What kinds of environments are created in these “free schools”? What kinds of projects/work take place in alternative schools? How do alternative schools change the experience of learning?
We are looking for well-crafted personal reflections on alternative education. We’re not looking for arguments about the pros and cons, or scholarly research on alternative education. Just tell your story. Positive and negative experiences are welcome.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Relationships with teachers
Descriptions of particular projects or learning experiences
Reasons why students opted out of traditional schools
Alternative schools as communities/within their larger communities
The transitioning from an alternative school to a traditional school, and vice versa
Reflections on how alternative education shaped your life after school
For those who have become teachers themselves: how has your alternative education has informed your own ways of teaching?
PHOTOS and artwork also considered.
Editors: Aeron Haynie is Associate Professor and former chair of the English department at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She has published scholarly work on Victorian literature, college teaching, and has published creative nonfiction essays. She attended The Central Community School (CCS), an open-classroom “free school” in Buffalo, New York from 1970 to 1975.
Julian Fleron is Professor of Mathematics at Westfield State College, a college founded by Horace Mann as the nation’s first coeducation teachers college. His scholarly work and publications span a number of areas in mathematics and mathematics education, often focusing on the negative impact of public (mis)perceptions of mathematics. He too is a CCS alumni - 1970 to 1974.
Deadline: proposals or complete essays by February 1, 2009.
Length: 1,500 to 4,000 words (about 5 to 20 double-spaced pages).
Format: Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and paginated. Please include your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and a short bio.
Submitting: Send essays to hayniea AT uwgb DOT edu
Or mail to Aeron Haynie, Associate Professor of English and Humanities, TH 331, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, WI 54311.
A Mama, PhD-reader project:
We are exploring opportunities for stay-at-home Parents Holding Doctorates (PHD) to use their training and expertise in creative ways.
JOIN US!
Monday October 13, 2008 7:00-8:00 pm OR
Wednesday October 15, 2008 1:00-2:00 pm
Museum of Biological Diversity
1315 Kinnear Road
Columbus, OH 43215
For more information, please contact
Joan Herbers herbers.4 AT osu DOT edu
Donna Wenzel dwwenzel AT msn DOT com
Literary Reflections is pleased to present our featured writing prompt response from September. We asked "Who or what is your muse? In what way has she/he affected your writing?"
Cara Holman wrote:
"Whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always the same for as long as I remember. "A mathematician," I would answer. I could have added "just like my mom," but that went without saying. I greatly admired my mother, who managed to instill her enthusiasm for mathematics in us to such an extent that four of her five children followed in her footsteps when it came to picking careers.
That might well have been the end of it, but deep down inside, I had a secret love in life, and that was writing. It was more than a love really, it was almost a compulsion. Words bubbled up inside of me, and it was all I could do to get them down on a paper before they vanished. I spent many happy hours in my childhood with pen in hand, scribbling away in my ever increasing stack of notebooks. Writing became my way of processing the sometimes bewildering but always endlessly fascinating world around me.
As an adult, I still wrote from time to time, but it was only a hobby for me, one that I didn't really take very seriously, and all but gave up with the birth of my first child. I "retired" then from the workforce, fully immersing myself in the world of motherhood. It was nearly two decades later that writing came back into my life again -- when I spotted a colorful flyer announcing a writing group for women cancer survivors in my oncologist's office. I felt the familiar thrill at the thought of writing, and knew this group was something I just had to try. I was hooked, from that very first day.
"A writer is someone who writes," our facilitator encouraged us, and I marveled that it was really that simple. For years, I had defined a writer as "someone whose work has been published," and it seemed just about as likely that I win the lottery as get something published. Through our weekly writing group, I finally discovered that indeed, "everyone has a strong unique voice," and that my voice was as worthy of being listened to as anyone else's.
My mother was my greatest supporter in my fledgling writing career, believing in me long before I believed in myself. Sadly, I didn't have a chance to share many of my pieces with her, because just as my writing was really taking off, she was shockingly diagnosed with terminal cancer -- and the ending was swift.
She has become my muse now, and whenever I feel discouraged and wonder whether I've got what it takes, her words come back to me: "You've got a talent honey, nourish it." My life has taken a totally different direction since that first momentous day of writing group two years ago, and mom's words of encouragement helped lead the way."
Cara Holman may be contacted at: cara(dot)holman(at)gmail(dot)com.
Writing and Publishing The Short Stuff
Especially For Moms (But Not Only for Moms)!
Taught by Christina Katz
Next Class Begins on October 8th
Prerequisites: None
Finally, a writing workshop that fits into the busy lives of moms! You will learn how to create short, easy-to-write articles-a skill that will make it easier to move up to longer, more time-consuming articles when you’re ready. Try your pen at tips, fillers, short interviews, list articles, how-tos, and short personal essays-all within six weeks. Now includes markets!
Cost: $199.00.
Register at Writers on the Rise: http://writersontherise.com/classes.html