Catalyst Book Press seeks literary essays telling personal stories for two anthologies, one focusing on birth parents, and the other on the subject of miscarriage. The submission deadline for both books is August 15, 2009, and payment in each case will be $50 plus one copy of the book: http://www.catalystbookpress.com/Guidelines.html
Inspiring Mother* Voices
featuring Shari MacDonald Strong editor of The Maternal is Political: Women Writers at the intersection of Motherhood and Social Change; Jen Parsons, Mothers Acting Up and Run for Congo organizer; and Amie Nelson, currently writing Inspiring Mothers.
Everywhere we turn the word "crisis" is in the air -- the financial crisis, the food crisis, the climate crisis, the terrorist crisis. One would think that nothing good is happening in the world, which is far from the truth! There are mothers* all over the world doing incredible work to inspire, educate and engage their communities. Come and meet Shari MacDonald Strong, editor of The Maternal is Political; Amie Nelson, authoring Inspiring Mothers; Jen Parsons, organizer for Mothers Acting Up and Run for Congo, an organization dedicated to inspiring and mobilizing mothers* to advocate on behalf of the world's children. Join us for a conversation on what mother leadership looks like. Come to Inspiring Mother* Voices, nourish your soul, and connect with your inner activist.
*mothers and others who exercise protective care over someone smaller.
Come join us for a writing vacation! Amy Hudock will teach a course in Memoir Writing at the Citadel in Charleston, SC, this summer, June 15-26, weekdays, 8:30-1:45. You'll love the writing marathons in historic downtown Charleston, days at the Citadel Beach House on the Isle of Palms, and amazingly good writing workshops. We can house out-of-town guests on campus for a reasonable fee (much less than any hotel in Charleston), and Amy can help you arrange for childcare if you want to bring the whole family. Read more about it at
A Works-In-Progress Play Reading Series
Deadline: January 5, 2009
To be produced by RCA Theatre, She Said Yes!, and White Rooster Productions in celebration of International Women's Week, March 6 - 8, 2009
Theatre companies RCA Theatre, She Said Yes!, and White Rooster Productions are joining forces to present the third annual series of play readings by and about women, in celebration of International Women's Week.
All submissions must be either by a female playwright or deal with a female character as the central figure. All plays must be unproduced, although previous workshops or readings of the work are permitted.
Scripts will be selected by Ruth Lawrence, Artistic Director of White Rooster Productions and Sara Tilley, Artistic Director of She Said Yes!. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection process via email no later than February 1, 2009.
Each script will receive a one-day dramaturgical workshop in February with a professional cast and dramaturge, followed by a staged reading in St. John's between March 6-8, 2009. All playwrights, actors and dramaturges will receive a small honorarium for their work. The Festival does not cover any transportation or accommodations costs for out-of-town playwrights. All proceeds from the reading series will be donated to a local women's shelter.
To submit your script:
Submit a hard copy of a full draft of your play, with a cover letter indicating your telephone number, mailing address, and email address, as well as your reasons for applying to the Festival, to:
Women's Work Festival c/o RCA Theatre
3 Victoria St, LSPU Hall
St. John's, NL
A1C 3V2
Canada
Or deliver by hand between 9 am-5 pm, Monday-Friday, to Nicole Rousseau or Amy House, RCA Theatre, 223-233 Duckworth, Ste 202, above Haymarket Square.
http://www.shesaidyestheatre.ca/
The producers of What's Your Point, Honey? (see Mama at the Movies column on the film) will offer a 20% discount on purchase of the DVD for Literary Mama readers. The film makes a great gift for parents, teachers, your nieces and nephews, cousins and babysitters. For more information, visit the film's website and use discount code WC51 to receive the discount. 30% of DVD profits go to The White House Project, the Ms. Foundation and Girls Inc.!
Announcing the newest issue of Miranda, a zine about motherhood and other adventures by Creative Nonfiction editor Kate Haas. In issue #18:
Kubla Khan in Morocco – How the crushing heat of a North African summer inspired me to memorize a classic poem.
Not the Austins – As a kid, I vowed that my future family would be a model of literary, artistic togetherness, just like Madeleine L'Engle's Austin clan. Let's see how that worked out, shall we?
Homegrown Rituals – A peek into some seasonal celebrations. (Hint: we like fire.)
Swallows and Amazons Forever – Why my kids and I adore a series of eighty-year-old British books.
Bad Decision – "What are some bad decisions people make, Mama?" Oho, little boy, don't get me started!
The Lab Man – A blood draw early in parenthood teaches me a thing or two.
Plus, my boys and Freddie Mercury (!); the Motel of Lost Companions goes back to high school; lots more book reviews; Mama's Stray Thoughts (encompassing the geeky nature of yours truly, some odd kid questions and the shocking truth about volunteering in school); and a recipe for scrumptious cheese puffs.
$2 per issue, ordering information at www.mirandazine.com
The editors of Dads in Academia: Male Voices In and Out of the Ivory Tower invite contributions for an interdisciplinary collection of creative nonfiction essays on the rewards and challenges of being both a father and an academic. Much recent discussion about the juxtaposition of parenthood and the academy has focused on the difficulties that female professors face when they choose to become mothers. Books like Mama, PhD, edited by Caroline Grant and Elrena Evans, depict the oftentimes bleak prospects of merging the two endeavors. This collection welcomes the masculine voice into this lively and provocative dialogue. Further, Dads in Academia creates a space for male professors to describe their own experiences of balancing the demands and desires of two worlds that have changed notably throughout the past few decades: fatherhood and academia.
We encourage contributors to consider the changing cultural perceptions, representations, and expectations associated with fatherhood, and to explore the impact of such changes on their identities as teachers and scholars. Increasingly, fathers are taking on a more intense role with regard to child-rearing than ever before. How do today’s male academics view their participation in the parenting process? How is this changing the nature of the job? Has the evolving role of the father in contemporary society changed the job itself?
We also welcome essays that focus on how the evolution of fatherhood is changing the face of academia. Have we seen any concrete changes on college campuses to encourage the “professor as interactive father” schemata? What is the climate like for male professors who “want it all”? Are they able to balance fatherhood and the road to tenure? What gives?
Editors:
Mary Ruth Marotte, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of English and the Director of Graduate Studies in English at the University of Central Arkansas, where she specializes in women’s studies and critical theory. Her book, Captive Bodies: American Women Writers Redefine Pregnancy and Childbirth, was released by Demeter Press in October 2008. She lives in Conway, AR with her husband and three children.
Paige Martin Reynolds, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Central Arkansas. Her specializations include Shakespeare, British Renaissance Drama, Performance Studies, and Elizabeth I. She has written articles published or forthcoming in SEL: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, ANQ: American Notes and Queries, and 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era. She lives in Little Rock, AR with her husband and daughter.
Deadline: March 1, 2009
Length: 1,500 to 4,000 words.
Format: Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and paginated. Please include your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and a short bio on the last page.
Contact: Mary Ruth Marotte at mrmarotte AT hotmail DOT com for more information
Dear Reader,
Four weeks left to enter!
The Crazyhorse Fiction Prize
The Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize
$2000 each and publication in Crazyhorse.
Postmark Deadline to Enter: December 15, 2008
Upload your entry online or mail.
Each year Crazyhorse offers the Crazyhorse Fiction Prize for a single short story and the Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize for a single poem. The competition is open, the prize awards are currently $2000 for each genre.The winning poem and story are published in Crazyhorse.
Visit http://crazyhorse.cofc.edu and click on "Fiction and Poetry Prize" for complete details.
Fiction editor Kristina Riggle's first novel, Real Life and Liars, is now available for pre-order.
Also, two former LM columnists are publishing memoirs based on their columns. Sybil Lockhart's Mother in the Middle: A Biologist's Story of Caring for Parent and Child, based on her Mama in the Middle column, is due out in February. In May, look for Love in Condition Yellow: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage, based on Sophia Raday's column, Mommy Athens, Daddy Sparta.
Part of the problem is that I treat writing like a privilege not an obligation. It comes after everything, after all my other responsibilities.
Maegan “la Mala” Ortiz
My Writing Life
Woman’s Work: The Short Stories is a celebration of what happens when women finally get to the page. About the extraordinary stories that spill out of these extraordinary, and often ignored, storytellers during those stolen moments when she surrenders to her burning desire to write, to create.
GirlChild Press seeks the fresh and exciting voices of writers that can entice the reader with intricate tales of shapeshifters and evil doppelgangers, rock and roll princesses in twisted fairy tales, broken gunslingers in deserted western towns, and political murder mysteries that lead to sex in illicit places.
We will follow her through rabbit holes and pop up as mermaids dressed in camouflage, all while reveling in a romance that bloomed on a long-forgotten battlefield in outer space. Surprises will await us at every corner. We will discover what is passionate, and pure, and complicated and be glad for it.
Ultimately, Woman’s Work is about women as master storytellers.
Submission Requirements
• Deadline: March 1, 2009
• No more than 2 previously unpublished short stories per submission
• Simultaneous submissions okay, but notify if your work is accepted elsewhere
• 4,000 words or less
• Double spaced
• NO POETRY
All contributors will receive a copy of the anthology and will be invited to read at the book launch in 2009.
Electronic Submissions
Girlchildpress@aol.com
Title of submission should be placed in the subject line.
Please include your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and short bio with your submission.
Snail Mail
GirlChild Press
PO Box 93
Hyattsville, MD 20781
Please include your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and short bio with your submission
GirlChild Press publishes work that celebrates the triumph, defiance, and excellence of girls and women everywhere!
For more information about GirlChild Press visit www.girlchildpress.com
....and we need a fresh look! We're soliciting designs for a new logo that includes our name and tagline -- Literary Mama: Reading for the Maternally Inclined -- plus, optionally, an image that captures the spirit of the site. The winning entry will become the property of Literary Mama, to be used on our site, and on any and all Literary Mama gear. We'll give the winning designer credit on our site, of course, plus a t-shirt and a copy of the Literary Mama anthology. Send your entries by January 1st as jpg files (800 pixels wide) to carolinemgrantATgmailDOTcom.
The Mama Mary Show is seeking submissions about stories of loss, grief, redemption and joy from Daughters who have lost their Dads:
I am looking for submissions from any and all women who have lost their dads, any age and any circumstance. The pain is universal but each individual story is unique.
I loved my Dad more than anything. I miss him more than words. And that is the main impetus for creating this book. It’s an ode to my father…to all the lost fathers out there. And it’s a therapeutic glass of wine with women of “the club” who want to commiserate and celebrate their loss, together. I want it to be as beneficial for those that are contributing, as it is for those that read it. I want them all to know it gets better.
If you are reading this and have lost your father, first and foremost I am sorry for your loss. If you would like to contact me about this project or send me a submission for consideration in the book please email me at mbgodwin@gmail.com. If you are reading this and have not lost your father, go give him a hug and know that this book will someday exist for you if you ever need it.
MY MISSION – ON A GLOBAL LEVEL
1) To offer solace and comfort to women that have gone through the devastating loss of their father. To help them:
Know what they are feeling is normal
Know they are not alone
Know that it gets better
2) To bring together the women of “the club.”
3) To allow women contributing an avenue to release some grief in a positive way through their writings and commemorate their father in a timeless manner.
4) To explore and portray the precious relationships between dads and daughters.
5) To juxtapose the universality of grief as well as the uniqueness of everyone’s individual stories
6) To raise money for and awareness of Hospice.
ON A PERSONAL LEVEL
1) I want to turn my “pity party” into something positive.
2) Pay if forward and make my dad proud.
3) To help myself and others feel close to our dads again.
Mama, PhD Reading at University Press Books
2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
Thursday, November 13th, 6 PM
"All those sleepless nights and dirty diapers and baby food in your hair — where’s the discursive construction of motherhood when you need it?"
--Catherine Newman
Higher Education could be an enormously family-friendly environment, a model for other workplaces, but the academy is failing, and women are leaving. Join contributors to Mama, PhD -- Caroline Grant, Lisa Harper, Jennifer Eyre White and Irena Smith -- in a reading and conversation about the challenges and joys of trying to reconcile body and brain as they navigate academic careers.
For more information, please visit Mama, PhD.
January 12th- February 23th, 2009 (may also be arranged as an independent study, beginning at any time before or after the group dates)
For past students of Violeta's CNF 1 class, or for intermediate creative nonfiction writers, Creative Nonfiction Special Topics provides the inspiration, structure, and community that will take you deeper as a creative nonfiction writer. CNF Special Topics lets you explore a number of different subject matters for your creative nonfiction writing.
Topics will include:
* travel writing
* political writing
* spiritual writing
* food writing
* writing about family & friends
* writing through the dark
The 6-week class will feature a variety of weekly readings and discussion, writing prompts, and in-depth feedback on all the weekly work you submit to Violeta. It will differ from the typical workshop format in that you will not be required to comment on others' work, giving you the ability to focus more intensely on your own work.
Cost is $175 and may be paid in installments, if necessary. Class size is limited. For more information, visit TurnPeoplePurple, or to register, please contact Violeta.
Follow Literary Mama on Twitter and get periodic updates on your favorite mama-writers! We're on Facebook, too; become a fan! We'll be using both sites to update you on our contributors' readings and publications, plus new writing and old favorites.
Search Facebook for "Literary Mama" or click here. On Twitter, our address is http://twitter.com/LiteraryMama.
January 5th- February 23th, 2009
Violeta Garcia-Mendoza will be offering a 7-week online workshop for beginning to intermediate creative nonfiction writers. If you want to explore creative nonfiction writing, develop your voice, and go deeper into your craft, this encouraging and inspiring workshop is the place for you!
This online workshop will give you the opportunity to explore and escape into creative nonfiction writing from anywhere in the world with internet access, according to your own schedule.
Lecture topics will include:
* Selecting literary influences
* Mining obsessions
* Turning fleeting moments into lasting writing
* Exploring the tension of tenses
* Fiction techniques for creative nonfiction
* Finding your voice through editing
* Tips for placing your pieces
Cost is $200 and may be paid in installments, if necessary. Class size is limited. For more information, visit TurnPeoplePurple, or to register, please contact Violeta.
Read an interview with Senior Editor and Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance columnist, Shari MacDonald Strong in, Mom Writer's LITERARY MAGAZINE.
Shari talks about spending her days juggling her work as a writer and editor and “being a disorganized and highly affectionate mom.” About writing as a mother she says,
"As a group, moms (and mom writers) wield a lot of power. I think the most important and effective thing we can do is to stop reading and watching crap. We are an enormous consumer block. My advice? Don’t watch shows (political and otherwise) that focus on the shallow, the inconsequential. Demand that journalists ask the hard questions; turn off the fluff. Write to talk show hosts and politicians and remind them that we’re a smart, savvy group, that we want to know where politicians stand and specifically what they intend to do. Tell them to stop the name-calling and act like grown-ups. Vote not only with our ballots, but with our TV remotes and our letters-to-the-editor and our consumer dollars.
And, of course, we ourselves have to be willing to do the same hard work: on our blogs, in our columns, in our books. We need to wrestle with the hard issues and put ourselves out there, even if it might make our mothers-in-law mad. We must ask questions, explore possible answers, keep our minds open to ideas from all sides. We have to speak up – at the PTA meeting and online, with our voices and with our pens and our computer keyboards. Speaking truth to power doesn’t always sell, but what sells is far less important than what really matters."
Literary Reflections is pleased to present our featured writing prompt response from October. We asked, "Have you ever re-read books as an adult that had been your own childhood favorites? What was the experience like the second time around compared to the first time? If you also shared the book(s) with children, how did their reactions compare to your own?"
Cara Holman wrote:
"The first of my three pregnancies was barely confirmed before I headed out to The Secret Garden, our local children's bookstore at the time, and loaded myself up with some of the all-time favorite picture books from my own childhood: The Cat in the Hat, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Where the Wild Things Are, The Story of Babar, and Curious George, just to name a few. I just couldn't wait to share all the books that had been special to me as a child with my own children.
After I became a mother, reading with each of my children served as a daily source of great pleasure. It was then that I discovered not only did my three children have very distinct personalities, but also, distinct preferences for books. One thing they agreed on though: they didn't in general care much for "old books," loosely defined as "any book that was around when mom was a kid." Picture books alone were exempt from this rule; once they graduated to chapter books however, classics were pre-empted by the Johnny-come-latelies to the world of books. In fact, more often than not, my children made a beeline over to the "new books" section of our library, to check out the very latest offerings. Perhaps it was the shiny book jackets that attracted them, or the feel of the crisp new pages that didn't yet have a chance to become dog-eared.
Thankfully there were some notable exceptions to the "no old books" rule. All three of my children got caught up in the delightfully escapist adventures in Half Magic (Edward Eager), The Pink Motel (Carol Ryrie Brink), The White Deer (James Thurber), The Trouble With Jenny's Ear (Oliver Butterworth) and their all-time favorite The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster); but Mary Poppins, Pippi Longstocking, Henry Huggins and The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet? Forget it! There's just no accounting for taste it seems.
Heartened by the fact that there apparently were some old books that could capture my children's interest if only they gave them a chance, I made a deal with them. Once they became independent readers, they could check out any book from the library they wanted to read by themselves, but for our daily shared reading time, I got to select half the books and left the choice of the other half strictly up to them. This way, I sneakily ensured that some of my beloved childhood books were thrown into the mix as well. It turned out to be a win-win situation. I was introduced to books I never would have read otherwise, and over time, they too became fans of many of my old favorites.
I think what appeals to me the most about sharing my childhood books with my own children is the sense of recapturing some of the warmth and closeness I experienced in my childhood as my parents read to me. Favorite books always transport me to some magical place, and when my children snuggle up to me at bedtime, and read along silently with me, correcting me if I skip a word as I once corrected my dad, I can almost close my eyes and pretend I am that child again."
Cara Holman may be contacted at: cara(dot)holman(at)gmail(dot)com.
Suzanne Kamata's first picture book, Playing for Papa was published bilingually in Spain by Topka Books and is now available for purchase via PayPal.
Have a look here:
http://www.topka.es/topkabooks/bo_playingpapa.php
The 2009 MAU calendar, The Moment, is dedicated to moments of personal change that shift the direction and purpose of our lives. Often these extraordinary moments are heralded by very ordinary tasks. They arrive – when we're cradling babies, grocery shopping or bicycling – and begin magically transforming us into passionate advocates for social change.
The Moment is a weekly engagement calendar and guide that also offers tools and information on how to: get and stay inspired, get educated, and engage with other individuals and organizations working on important issues. Most importantly, the calendar features portraits of people who inspire our own activism – from the mom next door to Isabel Allende, Paul Hawken, Mukhtar Mai and Ann Veneman. This calendar and guide is a tribute to pivotal moments of change, designed to incite your own year of Moments!
Get inspired and in the process, support Literary Mama. Click here to purchase the 2009 MAU Calendar. For every purchase through this link, Literary Mama will receive 15% of the sale. Start your holiday shopping now! The 2009 MAU Calendar makes wonderful presents for your mother, aunt, best friend and the lady down the street.
Gorgeous, Full color, 6.5 X 9 inches, soft cover & spiral bound, two year-at-a glance section, $20.
An Edited Collection
by Demeter Press
The Palin Factor: Political Mothers and Public Motherhood in the 21st Century
Editors: Andrea O’Reilly and Deirdre M. Condit
The nomination of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the Republican party Vice Presidential nominee in the 2008 U.S. president election has initiated a public conversation about the meaning and depiction of Sarah Palin and her role as a publicly elected, working “hockey mom.” Despite Palin’s active embrace of her “hockey mom” image, her public motherhood remains enigmatic. The election of women to public office has been a central goal of the women’s movement precisely because the voices and experiences of women and mothers have been, from the outset of our democracies, simply absent. Whether or not Sarah Palin continues in national public life following the 2008 election, she is a breakthrough figure for public women who mother small children. Moreover, Palin’s national candidacy offers an opportunity for public and academic discourse about what it means to be an elected, and thus public, representative of other women and wage earning mothers. This edited collection seeks to inaugurate a timely, interdisciplinary, theoretical and critical discussion of the Palin phenomenon as an iconic representation of public motherhood.
Topics include but are not limited to:
Media representations, interpretations or responses to Palin’s motherhood; Public discourse on Palin balancing her work as Governor or Vice Presidential candidate and being a mother; Her role as a public mother of a child with disabilities; The impact of her as a wage working mother on voters; Her status as a policy making mother on disability policy; Palin as an icon for conservative, Christian-identified non-wage working mothers; The evident conflict between Palin’s self-identification as a Christian Conservative, whose values include “traditional gender roles,” and the juxtaposition of her evident work and family life style; The sexualization of Palin among white, conservative, working men and its impact on their discourses about mothers and motherhood; Her transformational role as the “head of the family,” and her husband’s public transformation as the “little man” at home; Discussions of public or party rhetoric about “working mothers”; The conflicting responses among liberal women’s groups concerning Palin’s status as a working-mother feminist; The commodification of the “hockey” mom identity in politics; Palin’s public/private mothering conflicts; Public displays and deployment of the motherhood trope; Racialized responses to Palin’s mothering style and messages; Public life and the possibilities of “intensive mothering”; Palin and political motherhood and the politics of Motherhood; The transparency of public mothering; in the Palin case; Feminist discourse on Palin; Sexism, Mother Blame in Politics; Mothers in Politics/Mothers as Politicians; Public representation of and responses to Palin as the mother of a teen mom; Political tokenism and mothers; Sexuality, motherhood and politics; Gendered responses to Palin as mother and as politician; Progressive versus conservative positioning of mother politicians; The Republican deployment, use and misuses of Palin (Palin as a sacrificial lamb); Palin and Mothers’ Rights; (Mis) readings of Palin as Pro-Mother; Palin and the (new?) conservative/religious right feminism; Hillary Clinton and Sara Palin.
Please submit a 250 word abstract and 50 word bio February 1, 2009 to aoreilly@yorku.ca. (Accepted chapters (of 15-18 pages in length) due July 1 2009)
--
Association for Research on Mothering (ARM)
Demeter Press
726 Atkinson, York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON,
Canada, M3J 1P3
416-736-2100 x60366 (fax) 416-736-5766
arm@yorku.ca
www.yorku.ca/arm
This anthology, to be published in 2009, will explore, through personal essays and first-person accounts, the phenomenon of lesbian moms (single and coupled) who choose male friends or acquaintances, rather than an anonymous sperm donor, to father their children.
With no clear models to follow, this new version of the queer family is creating its own. That’s where this anthology comes in. We are seeking stories that are funny, touching, heartbreaking, provocative, thoughtful — and very, very relevant to the new queer (and queer-positive) family.
We are looking for creative non-fiction and first-person accounts by lesbian, bisexual, transgender and two-spirited mothers who have chosen known sperm donors in order to conceive; men who have become sperm donors to them;their partners, their children, and other invested parties.
Submit!
Submissions might explore (but should not be limited to) the following issues and themes:
When baby-making doesn’t take or takes too long; dealing with infertility, miscarriage, or even routine insemination is difficult enough for the average couple, so what happens when the donor also becomes emotionally involved?
Can his parents come to visit? Is it rude to insist they stay in a hotel?
The other mother: What happens to the experience of non-biological mothers when a biological “Dad” is also part of the picture? Non-biological moms talk about the processes and challenges of claiming their roles as primary parents.
What does “donor dad” mean anyway? How does the choice to become a donor redefine circles of gay male friends and the identities of gay men?
My husband is sleeping with lesbians! What does it mean when your partner is the father of the new baby — but the baby isn’t yours?
Queer divorce: What happens to the donor if the moms split up? What happens when the relationship between moms and donor deteriorates?
To submit, send two double-spaced hard copies and an electronic copy on disc (in .rtf format) to the address below. Submissions should not exceed 15 pages or 7,500 words. Please left-justify your submission and use a serif font (e.g., Times New Roman) in 12-point size.
Please include your name, address, telephone number, email address, and a brief bio (100 words). Submissions will not be returned.
Deadline for Submissions: January 15, 2009. Please contact us if you are planning to submit an essay.
Contact us:
Chloё Brushwood Rose & Susan Goldberg, Editors
Reconceiving Anthology
c/o Dr. Chloë Brushwood Rose
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada
reconceivinganthology@gmail.com
Words Without Borders, is looking for a volunteer blogger. This would be a good opportunity for any writer with a strong interest in international literature. The site receives solid traffic and I expect it to grow dramatically in the coming year as we have big things planned. The job description is as follows:
Words Without Borders, the online magazine for international literature, is looking for a volunteer blog editor to write at least one blog post per day related to the international literary and translation community. Content should be varied and cover literary festivals, readings, international and national publishing, and media on other sites including YouTube. The blog editor will coordinate with correspondents and columnists to ensure that content on the site is varied and truly global. Candidates must have a strong interest in international literature, as well as a familiarity with the international press and other media venues. Candidates should know how to successfully conduct advanced searches and be generally web savvy. The blog editor reports to the editor and editorial director. This is an unpaid, volunteer position. Words Without Borders is a nonprofit organization. To apply please send two clips and three ideas for blog post to Rohan Kamicheril at rohan@wordswithoutborders.org.
In addition to our primary blogger we are looking for correspondents--individuals in different regions of the world who could report on the literary scene abroad. Ideas for regular columns are also welcome.
LM contributor Sheilah Zimpel has an essay called, "Creating a Good Life" in the recent issue of skirt! magazine...
Our history proved that we liked to move, and we both had a bad case of wanderlust. Or, it could be as simple as what David Sedaris said—when the sex gets old, all long-married couples eventually turn to real estate. We thought it would be the good life, the simple life, and this was before Paris Hilton made a joke of it. I was a romantic, the English major to his engineer. I’d dream something up and he’d do the math, and then actually create something. I was ready to live off the land, live cheaply, forget the inside-the-beltline values (forget that I’d never gardened in my life). I had delusions of romance with nature, so I traded my Lexus for a Jeep Wrangler.
Dear ARM Members and Friends,
Andrea O'Reilly will be in Little Rock, AK for a conference Nov 4-8 and Montreal, QC for a Fellowship Nov 11- Dec 10.
While there, she should like to do some interviews for her being a mother in academe research.
For more information on this study, please visit www.yorku.ca/arm
If you are interested in participating, please email Andrea directly at aoreilly@yorku.ca
MOTHERHOOD & PHILOSOPHY:
WHAT PHILOSOPHY HAS TO SAY ABOUT MOTHERS AND
WHAT MOTHERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT PHILOSOPHY
Sheila Lintott (ed.)
Department of Philosophy
Bucknell University
Abstracts with titles are solicited for a new volume in the Wiley-Blackwell series Philosophy for Everyone, under the general series editorship of Fritz Allhoff. As with previous titles now subsumed under the series—Wine & Philosophy, Beer & Philosophy, Food & Philosophy, and Running & Philosophy—Motherhood & Philosophy will be an interdisciplinary collection meant to be accessible to an educated, but non-specialized, audience. Essays should avoid discipline-specific jargon and should inquire into issues of import to mothers and anyone interested in motherhood. The collection will explore the philosophical dimensions of motherhood, including (at least) feminist, existential, ethical, aesthetic, phenomenological, and social and political considerations of pregnancy, childbirth, and mothering by compiling the insights of academics and mothers from a broad range of disciplines and from outside the academy.
If you are interested in submitting work to this project, bear in mind that your essay should incorporate serious philosophical reflection on motherhood. This need not preclude your work from being lively, engaging, and even entertaining.
Guidelines for Contributions:
Abstract of paper (approx. 250 words) submission deadline: 15 December 2008
Acceptances will be issued by 1 February 2009
Submission deadline for completed papers will be 1 June 2009
Final papers should be approximately 4000-5000 words
Abstracts should be submitted by e-mail to sheila.lintott@bucknell.edu.
Please contact Sheila Lintott at the above email address if you have any questions about the book. Other proposals for series titles are also welcome; please direct those to Fritz Allhoff at fritz.allhoff@wmich.edu.
Suggested topics:
More topics related to motherhood are worthy of philosophical reflection than can be articulated here, but the following is a long list of suggestions that may prove fertile ground for inspiration.
On Pregnancy:
Phenomenology: What is it like to be pregnant?
Identity: Who am "I" when pregnant? Am I plural or singular?
Disability Studies: Examination of the intersections of pregnancy and disability, reflections on the increase in pregnancy discrimination complaints, reflections on birth defects and disorders
Ethics: What obligations does the pregnant woman have to the unborn child she carries? How do these obligations differ after birth? What about drug and alcohol use during pregnancy? Reflections on family and medical leave policies for academic and nonacademic moms.
Body Image: Can pregnancy liberate women from the tyranny of cultural norms of prescribed thinness?
Race/Ethnicity: How is the pregnant woman's body experienced and represented in racialized/racist ways?
Death: Reflections on loss during pregnancy, childbirth, or childhood
On Childbirth:
Birth Control: Has the medicalization of childbirth helped or harmed women?
A Face Only a Mother Could Love: Are newborn babies really beautiful?
Birth Stories: What is the narrative structure of birth stories? Why are birth stories important and yet seemingly inappropriate for public discourse?
Murphy Brown Feels Like a Natural Woman: The affect the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth on television and in film on expectations and experiences of pregnancy and birth
Pleasure and Pain: Considerations of why women have more than one child (after having experienced the excruciating pain of childbirth first-hand)
On Mothering:
What's in a Name: What is a mother? A mom?
The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love: Should all moms love being moms?
Brooke vs. Tom: On the nature, proper treatment, and representation of postpartum depression
To Nurse or Not to Nurse: On social and cultural pressures to breastfeed, bottle-feed, or wean
Mommy Wars: Sarah Palin, Hilary Clinton, and the portrayal of moms in power
A Mother's Love: Can we rationally evaluate our children's strengths and weaknesses or are we necessarily biased (to exaggerate the good or even the bad)?
Gender Differences: On differences between mothering a daughter and mothering a son
Role-sharing: Can equity exist in parenting or co-parenting relationships?
Gender Roles: What are the differences between mothers and fathers?
Work/family Balance: The politics of professional moms "opting out," practicing philosophy and being a mom, being an academic and a mom
Parenting: Feminist moms, co-parenting, and non-traditional families
My Mother, Myself: What are the existential implications of the realization that I am, after all, becoming my mother?