Congrats to Literary Mama Editor-in-Chief Caroline Grant: "A history of Literary Mama titled Things No One Will Tell You: Literary Mama Writes Motherhood Outside the Mainstream Media appears in The 21st Century Motherhood Movement, published by Demeter Press and edited by Andrea O'Reilly. And, today, my essay Raising kids in earthquake country was published in Salon. I wrote it several years ago, but it didn't find a home until the earthquake in Japan made it, sadly, timely."
And Congrats to these former Literary Mama contributors!
Columnist Elrena Evans published an essay at phlmetropolis.com. In My So-Called Home Office, she writes about the tax code and her first year filing as a self-employed individual.
Columnist Jennifer Eyre White's book, The Practical Napper, will be released in June. The book, she writes is "for people who believe the phrase 'good nap' is redundant--which is to say, nearly everyone."
Contributor Yelizaveta Renfro's collection of short stories, A Catalogue of Everything in the World, will be released in mid-May. The stories are set in and were inspired by the Midwest; the collection won the St. Lawrence Book Award in 2008.
Do you keep a journal - or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.
Three times a month, I'll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation - just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.
And who knows? Maybe you'll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you'll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you'll enjoy re-reading it months--and years--down the road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~My daughter, Ellen, is intrigued with our family's history. She thinks it's pretty cool that her grandpa Converse traces his ancestry to 1630 and the Arbella, which sailed from England to establish the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
She sits at the kitchen table, a grandmother on each side, and sifts through a pile of scrapbooks, photographs, and newspaper clippings. She wants to draw a family tree, and the three of them have spent the morning looking up names and dates. Each grandmother has shared tales about her own grandparents and great-grandparents and the immigration stories that have been passed down. Ellen's responses alternate between surprise and incredulity.
I've heard most of the stories, yet the longer I listen, the stronger my connection to the immigrants becomes. I sense the same feelings emerging in Ellen as she peppers her grandmas with questions. By the end of the day, she's penciled a five-generation family tree and has told stories about each of its branches to anyone who would listen.
Journal Entry: How many branches can you draw on your family tree? Choose one story about one ancestor and write what you know. Make a list of questions the story raises.
Then, for inspiration, read two of Literary Mama's recent author profiles. Both highlight a writer whose memoir originated in the exploration of her family ancestry (Jennifer Rosner, Bonnie J. Rough).
The winners of our drawing for a copy of Adoption Nation by Adam Pertman are:
Jennifer Arzola and Melanie L
Winners should email their addresses to lmblog(at)literarymama(dot)com.
Do you keep a journal - or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.
Three times a month, I'll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation - just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.
And who knows? Maybe you'll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you'll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you'll enjoy re-reading it months--and years--down the road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~From the outside, Cary's family appeared to be a happy one. Her parents greeted neighbors with a friendly smile, and all five members of the family were active in church and community activities. But, behind closed doors, there was fear, pain and abuse.
"Don't you tell anyone," Cary was told. "This is our little secret. Besides, no one will ever believe you."
For a long time, those statements scared her into secrecy. Then, when Cary did begin to talk about the abuse she endured, she found that her father was right: no one believed her. She began to think the abuse was her fault. Her self-esteem nosedived. The abuse shaped her childhood and was a contributing factor to many of the decisions she made as an adult.
Cary was far into her adult years before she had the confidence to tell her story, but now, as a volunteer for Prevent Child Abuse America, she shares it freely and encourages adults to listen and to believe.
Journal Entry: Write about the challenges of keeping a secret and the consequences of revealing it.
We're pleased to feature this reader's response to one of our For Your Journal writing prompts.
Emily Yochim shares these thoughts about a mess her child made:
Journal Entry: Describe a mess your child made. What was really at the bottom of the pile or glued to the chair? Did you see determination? Cooperation? Collaboration? Creativity?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We spent last summer moving dirt, and lots of it. For months, dump trucks rumbled into our driveway daily and deposited massive piles of dirt throughout the yard. Three-year-old Elliot unfailingly heard the trucks' roar at 7 in the morning, and he spent morning after morning standing on our back porch in his pajamas watching "the workers" and the trucks. He watched intently but cautiously, standing at the edge of the porch - never venturing off of it - and noticing the small details about the trucks. "Why does that truck have different wheels than the others, mama?" he would ask, baffling me.
The trucks are my dad's - he owns a construction company - and some of "the workers" have known me since I was Elliot's age. This landscaping project was a family affair, and on weekends throughout the summer, my brothers, my parents, and several of my dad's "guys" would descend onto our property to move dirt and rebuild our backyard. The weekends were chaotic, stressful, and productive. I hustled all day, keeping track of Elliot and his 6-month-old brother, supplying doughnuts and coffee in the morning, sandwich for lunch at noon, coffee in the afternoon, and grilled steak and beer at night. I kept the water jug full and soothed the baby to sleep amid the grinding, crashing noises of excavation. Elliot marveled and relished. Sometimes he was invited onto the construction equipment, riding on his uncle or papa's laps, pushing the levers and buttons, and listening to the constant beeps and grinds. Mostly, though, he watched, as always, from the back porch. Staring, thinking, noticing.
One weekend, for a short time, Elliot disappeared in the house. I bustled about the kitchen, and my husband walked around the property taking pictures of the progress. Elliot was quiet for that length of time that every mother knows - that length of time that makes us notice. I stopped cutting fruit and headed around the corner to look for him. There, sitting at the top of the white-carpeted stairs in my brand new house, was Elliot, doing some landscaping. Propped next to him was an empty Nestle Quik container, which, just that morning, had been brand new - filled to the top. Dry, fine-grained chocolate milk powder covered three white steps, and it had been bulldozed into small hills and winding tracks. I stopped in my tracks, inhaling a sharp breath. "Look at my construction site!" he declared. I sighed, letting go, and then swelled up with pride, drinking in his creativity and sense of a job well done.
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Emily can be reached at eyochim(at)allegheny(dot)com.
Congrats to these LM staffers!
Suzanne Kamata, Fiction Editor : "My short story collection, The Beautiful One Has Come is now available for pre-order."
Christina Marie Speed, Literary Reflections Editor: "A brief piece about our family's transition from a military life to a civilian one is featured in my column at Moondance.org this month. While a change such as this eludes the articulation of retrospect at this early stage, is a first attempt to wrap my words, and my head, around it."
2011 Pen Parentis
Writing Fellowship
for New Parents
POSTMARK DEADLINE is
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20th
2011 Pen Parentis Writing Fellowship for New Parents
In addition to a full year of promotion, a $1000 prize will be presented to the Pen Parentis Writing Fellow at a public reading of the winning work in Manhattan on Tuesday, September 13, 2011. Entrants must be the parent of at least one child under 10 years of age, but there are no style or genre limitations on the works of fiction submitted for consideration. Entrants can be at any level of their literary careers. The contest will seek submissions starting March 1 and end the submission period April 20 (postmark deadline).
Guidelines:
Submissions are by postal mail only and call for a new, never-published fiction story-any genre, on any subject-of up to 1350 words (typed double-spaced on 8 ½ x 11 paper in Times New Roman 12 point or similar font, with one inch margins). Do not put author's name on this manuscript. Do put the title of the story and the word count.
Please retype the title of the story and word count on a removable cover page along with author's name, full contact information, and age of author's child(ren). Financial status, prior publication, and hardship stories do not aid your application. Judging is blind. The contest will seek submissions starting March 1 and end the submission period April 20 (postmark deadline).
Judging is blind and based only on the following criteria:
adherence to contest rules
creativity
narrative arc
emotional truth
elements of surprise, humor, writing skill, and/or layers of depth.
All genres and styles of fiction are welcome. Novel excerpts are acceptable if they can stand alone as a story. Simultaneous submissions ok, but notify if published elsewhere. Multiple submissions ok, but separate entry fee for each submission. Entry fees will not be refunded.
Entry is $20. Pen Parentis members may enter at a discounted rate. If you are a Pen Parentis Author in good standing be sure you are logged in to view a special offer.
Good luck and happy writing!
Mail entries to: Pen Parentis Writing Fellowship for New Parents, 176 Broadway, Ste. 14F, New York, NY, 10038. You may include a stamped, self-addressed postcard if you wish receipt to be acknowledged. No SASE required as manuscripts will not be returned.
Winner will be announced on the Pen Parentis website and by email or phone to the winning author on or before August 1, 2011. Please make sure that author contact information includes either email or phone.
Prize:
One winning author will be showcased for one year on our website as the "Pen Parentis Writing Fellow," a new emergent author worthy of notice. The Fellow will receive a public showcase of the winning new work in a stunning literary location in New York City, paired with an established author who may function as inspiration and guide (2010's winner, Abby Sher, read with Jennifer Egan and Darin Strauss). Winner also receives $1000, presented at the Pen Parentis Literary Salon on September 13th, 2011, in conjunction with the reading of the winning work. Pen Parentis will publicize this reading for the author and will provide author with any press clips that mention author's name. Pen Parentis encourages, but does not require, attendance to subsequent readings at the Libertine Library in order to 1) be introduced to other authors and 2) network with prospective editors, agents, and readers. Finally, Pen Parentis will feature the winner on our website for one year, updating his/her accomplishments to the community, and will link to their author website, if any, and will promote the author when he/she attends regular Pen Parentis author salon events.
Important note: Entrants must be the parent of at least one child under 10 yrs old. While we accept submissions from anywhere, applicants are advised that there is no travel budget. Winners are responsible for their own transportation costs to the reading location in Manhattan.
Sponsors:
The Pen Parentis Fellowship is generously supported by a grant from the Sustainable Arts Foundation in California and individual donors. Corporate support is provided by the Thompson Hotel chain, General Growth Properties (The Seaport), Fractured Atlas, and The Libertine at Gild Hall.
Do you keep a journal - or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.
Three times a month, I'll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation - just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.
And who knows? Maybe you'll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you'll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you'll enjoy re-reading it months--and years--down the road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When my son turned 14, I wrote a poem on his birthday card. He laughed, but I didn't think I had written a funny poem. Needless to say, poetry is at the far boundary of my writing comfort zone.
So, for this journaling prompt, I asked my poet friends for suggestions. The advice they shared is pretty much the same advice I've heard for writing in any other genre: "Write every day, without hope, without despair. And read, read, read."
Other suggestions:
"Write what feels like a poem. Go back to it a week later and cut the extra words. Read it aloud to see if the line breaks work. Leave it alone for another week. Go back and cut the extra words. Read it aloud to see if the line breaks work."
"Keep a book of poetry by your bedside, in the bathroom, wherever. Read one or two poems at a time. Think about them."
"Make every word work hard. Use active, colorful verbs."
Journal Entry: Go to the library and browse the poetry section, or read the poetry published at Literary Mama. Find a poem that makes you say "That's it!" and use it as a template to write one of your own.
Literary Mama is giving away one copy of Adoption Nation by Adam Pertman. Leave a comment and your email address at the end of this post, and you'll be entered in our random drawing. Or, if you prefer, send your comment via email to lmblog (at) literarymama (dot) com. Entry deadline: April 21.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adoption Nation
How the Adoption Revolution is Transforming Our Families - and America
By Adam Pertman
Harvard Common Press, 2011. $16.95
Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, has penned a book that's part information and part call to action. First published in 2000, he releases this revised and updated version of Adoption Nation "because so much has occurred over the last decade.
"...from the adoptive mother who recently 'returned' her son to Russia to the children orphaned by the earthquake in Haiti; from the ongoing debate over transracial adoptions to the still-unregulated Wild West of adoption on the Internet ; the decline in secrecy and shame in adoption to the explosion of reunions between adopted people and their birth families; and from the precipitous drop in international adoptions to the soaring rise in adoptions of boys and girls from foster care, including by growing numbers of gay and lesbian parents," he writes.
Join LM editor-in-chief Caroline M. Grant, Samantha Parent Walravens, and Stacey Delo for a Moms' Night Out this Mother's Day week (why should it only last one day?).
What? A lively conversation about the struggle and juggle of motherhood today. Free and open to the public.
Where? Books Inc., 2251 Chestnut Street, San Francisco
When? Tuesday, May 3 at 7 p.m.
Who? Samantha is editor of the new anthology, Torn: True Stories of Kids, Career & the Conflict of Modern Motherhood; Caroline is co-editor of Mama, PhD: Women Write About Motherhood and Academic Life, and Stacey is a Wall Street Journal editor and founder of Discussion Divas
The winners of our February giveaway are Ashley Hedrick and Manas. They each receive a copy of Something to Prove: A Daughter's Journey to Fulfill a Father's Legacy.
Winners, please email us at LMreviews (at) literarymama (dot) com with your address and we will send your books.
Thanks for reading!