Susan Ito, Creative Nonfiction Editor and Columnist: My piece, "Table for Five" is in the May issue of Woman's Day. THEY approached ME and asked me to write the piece after reading my column on Literary Mama!! Woo!
Suzanne Kamata, Fiction Co-Editor: My essay "Baseball East and West" appears in the April issue of Wingspan, All Nippon Airway's inflight magazine.
Lisa Sadikman, Profiles Editor: My article, "Kids and Grief," was published at Babble.com. It addresses issues related to death and dying, including how to help kids with their grief and whether or not to take them to a funeral.
Cassie Premo Steele, Columnist: My novel has been accepted for publication by All Things That Matter Press. Shamrock & Lotus is a story of motherhood, immigration, history, healing, forgiveness and love.
Come out and join Literary Mama's editor-in-chief, Caroline Grant, together with contributors Lisa Harper and Nicki Richesin reading some of our favorite springtime picture books!
We'll be at Books, Inc. in San Francisco's Laurel Village on Thursday, May 6th, at 6 PM.
The bookstore supplies the popcorn, we supply the stories, you supply the kids.
More details here.
Join us for our first ever
Non-Fiction Night
at a special
date and time!
DATE: Thursday, May 13
TIME: 6:30-8:30
LOCATION: The Libertine Library at Gild Hall,15 Gold Street, NYC
FREE ADMISSION
With Special Guests
Kristen Schultz Dollard
author of The Yoga Body Diet
Laura Vanderkam
author of 168 HOURS
Mary Ann Zoellner
&
Alicia Ybarbo
editors of Today's Moms: Essentials for Surviving Baby's First Year
This is our last Salon until we announce the winner of the
Pen Parentis Fellowship on September 14, 2010
with readings from Jennifer Egan and Darin Strauss
www.penparentis.org
An unplanned pregnancy for an unprepared girl sets off Sunshine, a moving self-portrait of a woman driven to search for answers through reconnection with her biological mother. Filmmaker Karen Skloss explores the meaning of family through a personal journey to understand both the legacy of her birth and the non-traditional family she created by co-parenting with her ex-boyfriend.
Karen's story starts in 1975, two years after Roe vs. Wade, when her mother's unplanned pregnancy led her to an Austin home for unwed mothers. She had Karen in secret and then placed her with an adoptive family. Decades later when Karen herself becomes pregnant, is history repeating itself?
Woven together from over ten years of super-8 and video home movies, family interviews, dance sequences and reenactments, Sunshine offers an intimate look at the current transformations taking place within the family as it explores adoption, single motherhood, and the role of fathers.
Sunshine premieres on May 4th on Independent Lens (check local listings), the Emmy Award-winning series on PBS hosted by Maggie Gyllenhaal -- mom, actress and Academy Award nominee. To buy a DVD of Sunshine before, during or after its broadcast please visit the film's website, where you can watch a trailer and learn more about the filmmaker.
Eye of My Heart: 27 Writers Reveal the Hidden Pleasures and Perils of Being a Grandmother (Harper) is now available in paperback. Literary Mama reviewer Marilyn Chandler McEntyre covered the book last October, offering that the collection helps illustrate "the kinds of adaptation incumbent on grandmothers now."
From the publisher:
"This collection of original essays is the first non-Hallmark take on grandmotherhood by a group of smart, gutsy writers, including Elizabeth Berg, Beverly Donofrio, Ellen Gilchrist, Mary Pipher, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Roxana Robinson, Anne Roiphe, and Judith Viorst. These women, who helped redefine motherhood, marriage and career a few generations back, are now turning their attention to their latest role. Although the essays are by turns hilarious, heartbreaking, juicy and joyful, all are unflinchingly honest and paint a picture of what it's like to be a grandmother in today's high-stress, hi-tech global world in which we're all working and living longer. The paperback edition features a new epilogue by editor Barbara Graham, whose own journey as a grandmother has taken many surprising, unexpected turns."
Contributors needed for articles about: markets for women, why women write, time management, using life experience, women's magazines, critique groups, networking, blogs, unique issues women must overcome, lesbian and bisexual writing, formal education, queries and proposals, conference participation, family scheduling, feminist writing, self-publishing, teaching tips--just a few areas women poets are interested.
Practical, concise, how-to articles with bullets/headings have proven the most helpful. Please avoid writing too much about "me" and concentrate on what will most help the reader.No previously published, co-written, or simultaneously submitted material.
The Foreword is by Molly Peacock, the author of six books of poetry, including The Second Blush (W.W. Norton and Company, 2008).
Co-Editor Colleen S. Harris is a 2010 Pushcart Prize nominee. Her book of poetry, God in My Throat: The Lilith Poems(Bellowing Ark Press, 2009), was a finalist for the Black Lawrence Book Award; These Terrible Sacraments, is forthcoming in 2011. Colleen has a MFA degree in writing and has appeared in The Louisville Review, Wisconsin Review, River Styx, and Adirondack Review, among others. She has been included in Library Journal; and Contemporary American Women: Our Defining Passages.
Co-Editor Carol Smallwood is a 2009 National Federation of State Poetry Societies award winner included in Who's Who of American Women who has appeared in Michigan Feminist Studies, The Writer's Chronicle, The Detroit News. She's included inBest New Writing in Prose 2009. Her 23rd book is Writing and Publishing: The Librarian's Handbook (American Library Association, 2010). The first chapter of newly publishedLily's Odyssey was short listed for the Eric Hoffer Prose Award; a chapbook by Pudding House Publications.
Please send 3-4 topics you would like to contribute each described in a few sentences and a 65-75 word bio using the format like the bio's above. Please send by May 24, 2010 using POETS/your last name on the subject line to
http://www.themotherhoodmuse.com/
Contents
I. Writing Guidelines
II. Prizes
III. Deadlines
IV. Submission Guidelines
V. Terms & Conditions
I. Writing Guidelines
1. There are two categories that you may choose from: Fiction Short Story and Non-Fiction Literary Essay.
2. The story and characters of the fiction short story must be fiction.
3. Entry must be between 500 - 1,200 words. (The title is not included in the word count.)
4. Use Times New Roman (size 12 font) or Arial (size 11 font), double-space in the email.
5. Word count should be noted at the end of the entry with your personal information.
6. Open prompt for both categories. Any genre is accepted.
7. Each entry will be evaluated for key components of literature (voice, figurative language, original approach to the story or essay, engaging character development, strength of opening and ending, mechanics and structure).
II. Prizes
1. Four total winners will be chosen.
2. First Place for Fiction Short Story and Non-Fiction Literary Essay (each winner will receive): $100 + publication in the e-Zine + interview on the blog
3. Second Place for Fiction Short Story and Non-Fiction Literary Essay (each winner will receive): $50 + publication in the e-Zine + interview on the blog
III. Deadlines
1. SPRING Contest - Deadline is May 1, 2010 (Midnight PST)
2. FALL Contest - Deadline is November 1, 2010 (Midnight PST)
IV. Submission Guidelines
STEP 1: Complete the ENTRY FORM with your name, email address, title of entry, and in comments if your PayPal name/email is different.
STEP 2: Make your payment of $10 by PayPal.
STEP 3: Email your submission to
· DO NOT submit your entry as an attachment. Copy it into the body of the email.
· In the subject of your email write "fiction" or "non-fiction" for the type of entry.
· Use the following order for your email entry:
o Title
o Entry
o Your FIRST and LAST name
o Address
o Phone number
o Email address
o PayPal Transaction ID #
o WORD COUNT
OTHER TONGUES: Mixed-Race Women Speak Out
Co-editors Adebe D.A. and Andrea Thompson are seeking submissions for an anthology of writing by and about mixed-race women, intended for publication in Fall 2010 by Inanna Publications.
The purpose of this anthology is to explore the question of how mixed-race women in North America identify in the 21st Century. The anthology will also serve as a place to learn about the social experiences, attitudes, and feelings of others, and what racial identity has come to mean today. We are inviting previously unpublished submissions that engage, document, and/or explore the experiences of being mixed-race, by placing interraciality as the center, rather than periphery, of analysis.
Please send one (1) submission of up to 2500 words of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, or spoken word as a SINGLE attachment to othertonguesanthology@gmail.com
Black and white images and artwork should be 300 dpi and sent as attachments in jpg. of tiff. format. Artwork and photography limited to three (3) per applicant.
Please include your contact information, including your name, address, phone number, e-mail, title(s) of work submitted, type of submission, and a short artist bio (50 words max) in the body of the email, with your name and the type of submission in the subject line (e.g. "Jazmine - Poetry Submission"). All submissions are due May 15, 2010. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
If you prefer that your contribution remain anonymous, please include this preference at the top of your submission. All personal information you provide will be kept strictly confidential.
If you have any questions about this project, please contact the Editors, Adebe DeRango-Adem and Andrea Thompson, at othertonguesanthology@gmail.com
For more information: http://www.adebe.wordpress.com, http://www.andreathompson.ca or visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=276479812662
We look forward to reviewing your submission!
We are seeking writing that is about fathers from the child's perspective for the month of June; the relationships between fathers and mothers and husbands and wives; about husbands as fathers; and by self-defined fathers about fathering and mothering (including lesbian or transexual parents who identify as fathers).
Submissions and Formatting:
Submissions should be double-spaced, 500-7,000 words.
Please do not send queries. We consider only complete pieces.
Please send submissions in the text of an email (please do not send attachments) to lmnonfiction (at) literarymama (dot) com
Multiple submissions -- If you are sending your submission out to more than one market, please let us know.
Cover letters -- please include a brief cover letter with your submission. This letter should include a short biography, mention of other places you have been published, and why your submission is right for Literary Mama.
Please include the word Submission and the NAME OF YOUR PIECE in the subject line of the email. If you do not, our computers may read your email as spam and we may never get a chance to read your prose.
If your submission has already been published, mention that fact in your cover letter. If it is available on the Web, we are not interested in publishing it at Literary Mama.
Contact information -- All submissions must include contact information for the author: name, address, phone number, email.
Please send only your best work. We are not interested in rough drafts.
Please send only ONE submission at a time.
Women Writing on Today's American Family
Submissions are being sought for an anthology about writing and publishing by women with family publication experience. Possible subjects: markets; 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.
Practical, concise, how-to articles with bullets/headings have proven the most helpful to readers. Please avoid writing too much about "me" and concentrate on what will help the reader. No previously published, co-written, or simultaneously submitted material.
Foreword by Supriya Bhatnagar, Director of Publications, Editor of The Writer's Chronicle, Association of Writers & Writing Programs, George Mason University.
Afterword by Dr. Amy Hudock, co-founder of Literary Mama, an on-line literary magazine chosen by Writers Digest as one of the 101 Best Web Sites for Writers.
Co-Editor Colleen S. Harris is a 2010 Pushcart Prize nominee. Her book of poetry, God in My Throat: The Lilith Poems (Bellowing Ark Press, 2009), was a finalist for the Black Lawrence Book Award; These Terrible Sacraments, is forthcoming in 2011. Colleen has a MFA degree in writing and has appeared in The Louisville Review, Wisconsin Review, River Styx, and Adirondack Review, among others. She's included in Library Journal; and Contemporary American Women: Our Defining Passages.
Co-Editor Carol Smallwood is a 2009 National Federation of State Poetry Societies award winner included in Who's Who of American Women who has appeared in Michigan Feminist Studies, The Writer's Chronicle, The Detroit News. She's included in Best New Writing in Prose 2009. Her 23rd book is Writing and Publishing: The Librarian's Handbook (American Library Association, 2010). A chapter of newly published Lily's Odyssey was short listed for the Eric Hoffer Prose Award.
Please send 3-4 possible topics you would like to contribute each described in a few sentences and a 65-75 word bio using the format like the bio's above. Please send by May 24, 2010 using FAMILY/your last name on the subject line to smallwood@tm.net. You'll receive a Go-Ahead and guidelines if your topics haven't been taken. Contributors will be asked to contribute a total of 1900-2100 words. You may contribute one article 1900-2100 words or contribute two articles that combined equal 1900-2100 words. Those included in the anthology will receive a complimentary copy as compensation.
Becoming a new mom is the most amazing experience. From the moment that baby is placed in your arms, there is an incredible feeling only a new mother can know. This book celebrates the physical, emotional, and spiritual experience of having a child and creating a family. We are looking for heartwarming, insightful, and humorous stories about raising babies and toddlers that share with our readers the wonders of early motherhood. Stories should not extend past the toddler years. We are also looking for stories about being pregnant and getting pregnant, including fertility issues, and becoming a new mom through adoption or surrogacy.
Please share your true stories and poems written in the first person of no more than 1,200 words. If you have already submitted a story to our New Moms database, please do not submit it again. We have it. Remember these are new mom stories about having that first baby or babies in the case of multiples, so please do not send us stories about your second or third babies, or about older siblings.
Stories should not have been previously published by Chicken Soup for the Soul or other major publications.
Here are some suggested topics, but we know you can think of many more:
The process of getting pregnant
Being pregnant
Waiting for the baby or babies (whether pregnant or waiting for a baby through surrogacy or adoption)
Birth
Bringing home the new baby(ies)
Those early weeks (if you can even remember them through the haze)
Watching your baby grow up
How the new baby affected your husband, parents, siblings
Toddler stories
Funny stories - we love funny stories
How having a baby changed you
Any other stories you would like to share with other new moms
If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book if you so choose. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book, worth more than $100. You will retain the copyright for your story and you will retain the right to resell it.
SUBMISSIONS GO TO http://chickensoup.com
Select the Submit Your Story link on the left tool bar and follow the directions.
DEADLINE IS JULY 31, 2010.
Belinda and Her Friends
by Puma Perl
Erbacce Press 2008
A Review by Marjorie Tesser
Puma Perl's Belinda, protagonist of the chapbook Belinda and Her Friends, is a beauty. "belinda's long slow features make young men burn..." She's also a Puerto-Rican American single mother; her friends are hustlers and drug addicts, denizens of New York's Lower East Side. Their stories are told matter-of-factly, with humor and compassion, in this chapbook of free-verse poems.
The Pen Parentis Literary Salon
Presents Authors
Anna Solomon & Max Watman
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
There are only 2 Pen Parentis Literary Salons left before we go on hiatus for the summer! Don't miss your chance to hear Pushcart Prize winner Anna Solomon and Max Watman, author of Chasing the White Dog read from new work and share their tales from the trenches of writing and parenting.
Anna Solomon's short stories have been published in literary magazines including The Georgia Review, One Story, Harvard Review, and Shenandoah; her story "Lotto" was awarded a Pushcart Prize. An essay about new motherhood, "The Three-Month Itch," appeared in the New York Times Magazine. Anna's debut novel, The Little Bride, is forthcoming in 2011. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.
Max Watman is the author of Race Day, which was an editors choice in the New York Times Book Review. He was the horse racing correspondent for the New York Sun and has written for various publications on books, music, food, and drink and is the author of the Chasing the White Dog. He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife and son.
ATE: Tuesday, April 13, 2010
TIME: 6-8 pm, come after work!
LOCATION: The Libertine Library @ Gild Hall @ 15 Gold Street, NYC.
DIRECTIONS: Walking directions from A/C (@ Broadway/Nassau) or 2/3/4/5/J/M/Z (@ Fulton) trains: Walk east on Fulton Street to Gold Street, turn right and right again at Platt.
Walking directions from 4/5 train or E train or PATH: From Broadway take Maiden Lane east to Gold Street (third intersection). Turn left on Gold and left again at Platt.
Enter through the lobby of the Gild Hall Hotel and join us upstairs for a night to remember.
Mark your calendars for "Who Does She Think She Is?" at the
Nickelodeon Theatre on Tuesday, May 11th at 6PM. This is a wonderful
documentary about women artists who juggle motherhood, love, work,
and creativity, and is sponsored by creative women in art & business
in Columbia, including the USC Women's and Gender Studies Program,
Cindi Boiter and Undefined Magazine, Shakti Health & Beauty with
Christi Stewart, artist Heidi Darr-Hope, yoga instructor Pamela C.
Meriwether, and Literary Mama columnist Cassie Premo Steele.
In March, we asked the question:
Where has technology intersected with your parenting? Has technology impacted your child's literary experience? Where does the value of books and electronic media rank in your household? Why?
A totally fun getaway for Mother's Day weekend for women who want to write, make art, hot tub and relax in the redwoods.
May 7-9 at Salamander Camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains, $325 Deadline to register is April 17th
Please join writer and teacher, Laurie Wagner and a handful of other great women for our Altered Books/Story Slices Retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a weekend of play, intuition, risk and aliveness. You don't have to be an artist or a writer to join us, just someone who wants to use art and writing as a way to hone into a more instinctual, intuitive place within yourself.
A mere 50 minutes away from Oakland, Salamander Camp is a heavenly oasis tucked into a magical forest. The property has three huge yurts, one for sleeping, one for cooking and the other to play and make art in. There is also a gorgeous, sunny deck, a hot tub, a cold pool, showers and a big meadow.
Altered Books start as old, used books which get cut, ripped, collaged and painted. We use buttons, beads string, paper, glitter, metal, glass, photos and our own wild writing to make these objects our personal storybooks. The weekend will alternate between writing and art making, hot tubbing, and relaxing in the redwoods. Participants will arrive by 5 on Friday May 7, and head home on Sunday, May 9th by 4.
Get in touch with Laurie Wagner to find out more and reserve your spot. Laurie-wagner@sbcglobal.net or call 510 703-4030
Have You Been Wanting to Write? Do you love words and stories? Join Alameda writer and author, Laurie Wagner for her weekly Wild Writing Workshops.
Wild Writing is a timed process that enables us to get past our cleverness, our intelligence and anything in us that keeps us trapped in looking good. Wild Writing rides the waves of the creative unconscious and takes us in the fertile territory of the unknown.
There are openings in the May-June 8-week series, Monday mornings from 9-11:15 or Friday mornings from 9-11:15 Cost is $280 Call Laurie to secure a seat (510) 703-4030 or laurie-wagner@sbcglobal.net
The East Bay Monthly is now accepting first-person essays (900 words maximum) from San Francisco Bay Area writers for possible publication this summer. The theme:
A hard choice
To submit, paste the essay into your email to editorial@themonthly.com and attach as a Word document (".doc," not ".docx" file). Please include your name, email address, and phone number on every page. Deadline, Monday, April 12.