Book Publisher: Pending [Proposal under consideration]
Contributors needed for book chapters on modern women poets and mythology, including the following topics:
The use of myth by modern women poets
Myths most commonly appropriated by women poets and critical commentary as to why
Critical analyses of modern women poets utilizing myth in their work, including (but certainly not limited to) the following women poets:
Olga Broumas
C. J. Burns
Audre Lorde
Anne Sexton
Louise Glück
Carol Ann Duffy
Margaret Atwood
Diane Wakoski
Hilda Doolittle (H. D.)
Joy Harjo
Judy Grahn
Lili Bita
Catherynne M. Valente
Other women poets working with aspects of mythology
Comparison/contrast of women poets whose work utilizes the same myths
The challenge of feminizing traditionally male mythological perspectives
Critical reflections on, and recommendations for, developing courses for/teaching mythology and poetry in the K-12/undergraduate/graduate/workshop levels
Critical reflection by women poets on their own creative work related to mythology
The challenge women poets face in re-visioning commonly understood myths
Other topics relevant to modern women poets and mythology
The above list is not exhaustive; prospective contributors are encouraged to be creative. The intent of this collection is to fuse, in the same volume, critical analysis with best practices for teaching topics related to modern women poets and mythology.
No previously published, or simultaneously submitted material.
Editor Colleen S. Harris is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, author of three books of poetry, including The Kentucky Vein (Punkin House, 2011), These Terrible Sacraments (Bellowing Ark, 2010), and God in My Throat: The Lilith Poems (Bellowing Ark, 2009), and co-editor of Women on Poetry: Writing, Revising, Publishing and Teaching (McFarland, 2012). Her fourth book of poetry, Gonesongs, is forthcoming in 2013 from Bellowing Ark Press. Colleen holds an MFA degree in Writing and an MS in Library and Information Science. Her poetry has appeared in The Louisville Review, Free Verse, Wisconsin Review, River Styx, and others. Her work has been included in Library Journal, Writing and Publishing: The Librarian's Handbook (American Library Association, 2010), and Contemporary American Women: Our Defining Passages (All Things That Matter Press, 2009).
Submission Guidelines:
Please send titles and abstracts for up to 3 topics for chapter topics you would like to contribute, as well as a 75-90 word author's bio. Please send in a .doc or .docx Word file attachment by April 30 using MYTH/your last name in the subject line to poetryandmyth@gmail.com . You will receive a confirmation response with guidelines if your topics haven't already been taken. Contributors will be asked to contribute a total of approximately 3000-3500 words for each chapter. Those included in the anthology will receive a complimentary copy as compensation.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was a bit offended when my friend asked if I'd had my 11-year old daughter vaccinated for the HPV virus.
You gotta be kidding, I thought. Do I really need to think about cervical cancer now? She's NOT going to be sexually active for a long long long time.
A conversation with my OB-GYN supported my cautionary view. The vaccine had just hit the market (2006) and she suggested waiting until a few more studies had been completed. Four years later, she felt the vaccine was safe and that studies had proven the vaccine's effectiveness in preventing cervical cancer. Since that time, I've had conversations with our family doctors about vaccinations for Hepatitis A, meningitis, and influenza. The pros, the cons, and the consequences of going without.
Are your child's immunizations up to date? Check these newly updated schedules from the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Centers for Disease Control to make sure:
Ages 0-6
Ages 7-18
Catchup
Journal Entry: Describe a conversation you've had with your child's doctor. What criteria did you use to decide whether or not to use a new medication, test, or vaccination?
Going to the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference in Chicago this week? Look for these Literary Mama editors:
Friday, March 2nd
Noon
Wiliford C, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor
Barefoot, Pregnant, and at the Writer's Desk: Managing Motherhood and the Writing Life
Presenters: Kate St. Vincent Vogl, Hope Edelman, Jill McCorkle, Kate Hopper, Katy Read
To be or not to be a working mother? This panel considers the payoffs and the problems of writing through motherhood--or in choosing not to. These writing professionals at various stages of mothering share their personal experiences and wisdom. Is it possible to do it all? We'll explore how to make time for writing and how to know when to set it aside, how to leave the market and still reenter it. How can we best make peace with life's competing goals?
Friday, March 2nd
4:30 p.m
Continental B, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level.
North Winds, North Words
Presenters: Peggy Shumaker, Joan Kane, Nicole Stellon O'Donnell, Amber Flora Thomas, Daryl Farmer
Far beyond what travel brochures and postcards promise, far beyond warped notions spread by movies and television, Alaska lives. Five writers from all genres will read work that springs from lives in the far north: that of an Inupiaq Eskimo, an African American, a Latvian American. You'll hear the voice of a woman from gold rush days and the words of a talented fiction writer who died young.
Thursday. 12:30 - 1 p.m.
Friday. 12:30 - 1 p.m.
Saturday. 12:00 - 1 p.m.
Red Hen table
Nicole Stellon O'Donnell will be signing copies of her new book, Steam Laundry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can't make it to the conference this year? Check out the locations of future conferences here.
Have you read the most recent pieces at Literary Mama?
Columns
Do children need to face stress and hardship to develop resilience? In other words, do you have to test the system, does suffering (a little) really build character? More to the immediate point, is sending an apprehensive child to camp at the age of six "good for him?"
Rock Me Gently by Katherine Barrett
Our preschooler waves a hand-size U.S. flag to amuse our baby as I change a diaper. To the flag-waver, this flag means Mommy's birthplace and the country where Grandma and Grandpa live, and the nation on one of her passports, but not her native land.
Flags by Avery Fischer Udagawa
In June of this past year, my husband was in and out of the hospital three times for complications from a heart procedure. I was, at the same time, taking care of our daughter, teaching a summer class, and writing a novel. I did it. I did it all. I kept going. And then a few weeks later, a pain emerged.
My New Year's Resolution: Belly Time by Cassie Steele Promo and its accompanying Reader Response
For over a year now I've been working on a book about my family, particularly my sister, Angie, who was six years older than me. So, it's the double lives of memoir writers that especially interest me these days -- the unique balancing act of residing in our pasts while at the same time trying to stay completely present in our own unfolding lives.
My Double Life by Ona Gritz
Nonfiction, Literary Nonfiction
Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta
by Ina May Gaskin
Seven Stories Press, 2011
Home/Birth: a poemic
Arielle Greenberg and Rachel Zucker
1913 Press, 2010
Reviewed by Ursula Ferreira
When I was eighteen I read Ina May Gaskin's Spiritual Midwifery, and like many self-professed birth junkies before and after me, I was hooked. Seventeen years later, I'm both a doula and a mother. I still read books about birth, and am always interested in the kind of books capture women's attention. Two recently published books speak to many mothers and stir the proverbial pot in different ways. Ina May Gaskin's Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta is rally-cry to improve the abysmal maternal and neonatal mortality rates in the United States. Arielle Greenberg and Rachel Zucker's Home/Birth is a fierce affirmation of homebirth.
Ina May Gaskin, a midwife, published the now seminal Spiritual Midwifery in 1977. The book chronicles the establishment and growth of a free-standing birth center in Summertown, Tennessee. Thirty-five years later Gaskin brings her considerable influence to the subject of maternal and neonatal mortality rates in the United States. As a technologically-advanced country, one might assume that US mortality rates - indicators of the quality of pre- and postnatal care - would rank among the world's best. In fact, we rank behind forty other nations in maternal mortality, and behind thirty others in neonatal. Gaskin's manifesto successfully educates the reader as to why this is so: lack of necessary experience for both doctors and nurses; hospital policies dictated by insurance policy rather than evidence-based practices; non-existent and inconsistent documentation of maternal mortality from state to state. Her writing is compelling because it is both compassionate and frank: "I have lost count of how many newly graduated nurses have told me in recent months that they had never been in a room with a laboring woman before they were hired as a hospital maternity nurse."
Yet Gaskin does not demonize doctors or nurses. In fact, she calls for coalition-building, for doctors, nurses, midwives, doulas and ordinary citizens to commit to the safety and health of our mothers and babies. Many maternal and neonatal deaths are preventable, she says, especially in a country so rich in resources, if we bring together our collective wisdom toward a common goal.
While Gaskin calls for coalition-building, Home/Birth, affirms a birthing woman's individual knowing, and the right to birth where she feels safest and most empowered. Arielle Greenberg and Rachel Zucker are friends, established poets, and mothers with a variety of birthing experience. Home/Birth is a call and response that weaves together threads of conversation: birth stories (their own and others); legalities and politics; bumper stickers and slogans; humor; sadness; anger; and joy. The spiraling and fragmented quality of their polemic reminds me of holding an adult conversation with small children nearby. The poopy diaper, the toddlers squabbling over a toy, the need for snacks now trump whatever is being said. But once the little ones have been tended to, you pick up the thread of conversation once again or allow it to be lost.
Greenberg and Zucker do not shy away from difficult topics. In speaking honestly about homebirth, they acknowledge that it is also necessary to speak of death. At thirty-one weeks Greenberg's second child died in utero: "I felt devastated, but also at peace with our baby being gone. But letting go of a homebirth, putting myself at the mercy of a hospital birth and having to say goodbye to my baby in that environment, to try to feel connected to myself and my dead child in that environment, felt like the start down a long, bad road I wasn't sure I could find my way back from." She chose to wait until labor started at home, with her midwife. Both Greenberg and Zucker speak of a radical commitment to the fullness of their experience in a manner that honors wholeness and the sanctity not only of their bodies, but the bodies of their children as well.
I read these books under many hats: mother of a homebirthed daughter, doula to women in diverse birthing situations, bodyworker, somatic sex educator, and feminist. In each of these realms, I've witnessed a powerful shift over the past few decades, a shift toward "health" defined as emotional, reproductive, sexual, environmental and spiritual. Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta and Home/Birth present these shifts in terms of birth practices. Through poetry, prose and polemic, the authors call for a reclamation of personal choice and collective voice in the most intimate human realm: conceiving, carrying and birthing a child.
Literary Mama has joined Goodreads to help spread the word about our book reviews and author profiles.
If you're a Goodreads member, please be Literary Mama's friend -- and ask your friends to be our friend!
The Sun magazine announces two weekend workshops.
Into the Fire: The Sun Celebrates Personal Writing
Rowe Conference Center
Rowe, Massachusetts
June 1-3, 2012
Two Full Scholarships Available: Apply by March 15, 2012
Esalen Institute
Big Sur, California
October 26-28, 2012
Two Full Scholarships Available: Apply by August 17, 2012
Join Sun authors Joseph Bathanti, Krista Bremer, Alison Luterman, and Lee Martin, along with editor and publisher Sy Safransky, for a lively weekend of writing, conversation, and inspiration.
Program Description
To write about ourselves in a way that touches others and reminds them of our fundamental connectedness we must be willing to take a leap -- with all our passion, fear, and longing -- into the fire. And that fire is not just a metaphor. It's as real as our own mysterious existence; as real as a painful moment that has broken, and maybe opened, our hearts.We'll discuss essays, fiction, and poems with their authors, who will lead exercises geared to bring forth similar elements in your own writing. Readers Write-style writing sessions will help get your pen moving. The weekend will conclude with Sy Safransky reading from his Notebook.
To Register:
Call Rowe at (413)339-4954 or register online. Read more details about the presenters and schedule of events here.
Call Esalen at (888) 837-2536 or register online. Read more details about the presenters and schedule of events here.
Costs
The Sun is offering two full scholarships to aspiring or established writers who would benefit from either retreat but are unable to afford it. Scholarships cover lodging, meals, and tuition for the weekend.
For the Rowe weekend
There are two costs for conferences at Rowe. One is a program cost, which is assessed on a sliding scale. The second covers meals and housing and is based on the type of lodging you select. Visit the Rowe website details.
Scholarship-application forms are available here. To apply please e-mail your completed form, along with your CV and a statement of intent, to scholarships (at) thesunmagazine (dot) org. Or, if you prefer, mail your application materials to:
The Sun
Attn: Rowe Scholarships
107 North Roberson Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Application materials must be received by March 15, 2012.
Applicants will be notified of our decision by April 2.
For the Esalen Institute weekend
Esalen's weekend cost is based on the type of lodging you select; it includes tuition, meals, and accommodations. For details, visit Esalen's Reservation Information page.
Scholarship-application forms are available here. To apply please e-mail your completed form, along with your CV and a statement of intent, to scholarships (at) thesunmagazine (dot) org. If you prefer you may mail your application materials to:
The Sun
Attn: Esalen Scholarships
107 North Roberson Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Application materials must be received by August 17, 2012.
We will notify applicants of our decision by September 7.
Silver Boomer Books has extended their reading period for submissions to On Our Own, an anthology about the widowhood experience, to March 31, 2012.
Either prose or poetry is welcome. All aspects of widowhood are acceptable; we'd be especially interested in essays or poetry about how widows/widowers have become "survivors" and learned to live "on their own." Please visit our website at www.silverboomerbooks.com and click on Call for Submissions for more information.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can you match the family with the television series?
Which show most accurately reflects your family?
Family Name
1. Anderson
2. Cleaver
3. Pritchett and Dunphy
4. Keaton
5. Taylor
6. Douglas
7. Stevens
8. Davis
9. Bradford
10. Cunningham
11. Brady
12. Huxtable
13. Seaver
14. Camden
15. Banks
16. Taylor
17. Barone
18. Gilmore
19. McCullough
20. Taylor
TV Show
a. The Andy Griffith Show
b. The Gilmore Girls
c. My Three Sons
d. Eight is Enough
e. Growing Pains
f. Friday Night Lights
g. Home Improvement
h. The Bernie Mac Show
i. 7th Heaven
j. Bewitched
k. Everybody Loves Raymond
l. Family Affair
m. Father Knows Best
n. Family Ties
o. Modern Family
p. The Cosby Show
q. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
r. Happy Days
s. The Brady Bunch
t. Leave it to Beaver
Journal Entry: Describe your home in terms of a television show. Is it a comedy? A drama? Action and adventure? List the lead and supporting cast members. Pick a theme song.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Answers: 1m, 2t, 3o, 4n, 5f, 6c,7j, 8l, 9d, 10r, 11s, 12p, 13e, 14i, 15q, 16g, 17k, 18b, 19h, 20a
Interested in learning more about these television shows? Follow this link.
Looking for some good books to read with your kids?
Check out these lists of Teachers' Choices from the International Reading Association. These books have been rated by teachers, librarians, and reading specialists as particularly useful in their curriculum. The list for 2012 will be released in April.
2010 Teachers' Choices
2011 Teachers' Choices
Author Seré Prince Halverson's first novel, The Underside of Joy, recently published by Dutton in January 2012, is sure to not disappoint.
The Underside of Joy is an emotional roller coaster about two mothers who are forced to deal with uncovered secrets and lies that threaten to tear their worlds apart.
Seré Prince Halverson lives with her husband and four children in Sebastopol, California. For twenty years she worked as a freelance copywriter while writing fiction. You can learn more about Seré at her website, her blog, and her Facebook page.
At the end of this interview, there will be instructions to participate in her book giveaway.
While writers do draw from their own experiences to infuse their writing, some feel like there are certain experiences they cannot convey because they do not want to offend their loved ones by sharing something too close to home. How did you handle writing about stepparent-stepchild relationships while managing your own real life relationships?
My experience is very different from Ella's or Paige's experience. I wasn't interested in writing this as a thinly disguised memoir. The characters appeared in my head, and I followed along with my pen and keyboard. I don't know where they came from, exactly, but I didn't borrow any of them from my real life. I'm a mom of two boys and a stepmom of two girls. The girls' mom has always been present in their lives and I've always been present in my boys' lives. That said, I did pour my own emotional truth into this story. I know what it's like to lose someone suddenly, to feel towed under by grief. I know what it's like to love children deeply and have to accept the fact that another woman loves them too--and to understand that's not a bad thing.
But did some of the mothering moments come from my life? Yes. For example, my son loved to freeze his action figures in Tupperware containers. And then there's the poop all over the crib story. I think most mothers have experienced that one!
You said you wanted to explore the question, "How could a loving mother leave her own children?" How did you explore it? Did you seek out people who have chosen this path and talk to them, read memoirs or fiction, or let your characters lead the way?
Yes to all of the above. My characters led the way. But I've been haunted for years by other characters, such as Laura Brown in the gorgeous novel, The Hours, and Julie in the devastating but beautiful novel, A Mouthful of Air by Amy Koppelman, which is about postpartum psychosis. One of those characters saved herself, but left her child. The other character didn't save herself. My own mother wasn't very present during some of my early teen years, and though her story was quite different, I understand now that she needed to save herself. And I'm extremely grateful she did.
I was very intrigued by your comparison of wars and custody battles, that "the innocent always suffer." Do you see your writing as partly driven to simply give the innocent a voice, or perhaps to instill a feeling of community obligation to end this suffering of the innocent?
I don't think there's a way to end it completely. Divorce isn't going to go away. Divorce hurts children. I was hurt, and my own kids were hurt. But children are also scarred by parents who stay together. Most parents fail their children in big ways or small. My own parents messed up on some things. I certainly haven't been a perfect mom or stepmom. Honestly, who is? But my mom and dad and stepparents did their best and loved me deeply and I knew this every day of my life. I have a lot of wonderful memories from my childhood and a few I'd rather forget. And I believe that's all true for my kids. I did, however, learn some lessons from watching my parents, and I'm hoping, raised the bar for the next generation--as I'm sure my kids will also do. In a way, each generation has the ability and the opportunity to do better than the last. Maybe that's why the line, "Do what I say, not what I do," is so popular among parents!
On that same line, why did you choose to address this theme through fiction instead of nonfiction?
I'm a novelist. I live to make stuff up. I'm definitely not an expert on these issues, but an observer of human nature and a partaker in the human experience. I like to dig into all that through characters and story.
What is the highest compliment you can imagine receiving from a reader of your book?
For so long, I shared my writing with only a handful of people. Since the book came out, I've been overwhelmed by the kindness of readers. Many have taken the time to not only read the book but to write or tell me what it meant to them. That, to me, is the highest compliment. To know that it touched someone, that they connected with it, were moved by it, stayed up late reading it, reconsidered some aspect of their own lives because of it...now I'm the one with tears in my eyes.
What is your writing schedule?
When I was a young mom with toddlers, I began getting up ridiculously early in order to get my writing done. Often I'm sipping my first cup of coffee by 4:30. Now that I have an empty nest, you'd think I might wait until a respectable hour to start writing. But I love dark, quiet mornings when everyone else is asleep. It's my favorite time to write. Usually, by afternoon, the brain fog sets in. I'm a firm believer in the 20-minute nap, followed by a cup of tea. And I try to walk in the afternoon so my body doesn't get stuck in a permanent hunched-over-the-computer curl.
What recommendations do you have for starting writers, or writers who have been at it for a while but have yet to make it past the slush pile?
I mean this in the most sincere way: Do not give up. Easy to say, right? But I can say it with authority, because I am somewhat of an expert on this. It took me over two decades and three-and-a-half novels before this one was published. As thrilled as I am about The Underside of Joy finding its audience, I'll tell you something else: Even if it hadn't been published, I would not think of those years as wasted. If you love to write, it's a good way to spend your time no matter the outcome. Yes, the odds for getting published (at least in the traditional sense) aren't great. But they're a lot worse if you quit. So keep writing. And when it's time to find an agent, research like crazy. All the information you need is out there now.
Is there any question you've always wanted to be asked, but haven't been?
Are you Angelina Jolie's identical twin?
Thank you, Ms. Halverson.
If you are interested in receiving a copy of Ms. Halverson's The Underside of Joy, leave a comment below telling us why you're looking forward to reading her novel!
***UPDATE: Congratulations to Cath @ Constance Reader, who won a free copy of The Underside of Joy. You will receive an email in the next three days to obtain your mailing address for a copy of the book to be sent to you. Thanks to everyone who commented!***
So to Speak: a feminist journal of language and art is now accepting submissions for its Fall 2012 issue. This issue will feature the fiction contest winner, as well as poetry, nonfiction, and art. Submissions will be accepted from January 1- March 15 through the online submissions manager at
http://sotospeak.submishmash.com/submit
The contest judge for the Fall 2012 Fiction Contest will be Ru Freeman. The winner will receive prize money and publication, and contest finalists will be published in the issue. The contest entry fee of $15 will include a free copy of the Fall 2012 issue for all entrants.
So to Speak, founded in 1993 by an editorial collective of women MFA candidates at George Mason University, has served as a space for feminist writing and art for nearly 18 years. So to Speak publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art that live up to a high standard of language, form, and meaning. We look for work that addresses issues of significance to women's lives and movements for women's equality and are especially interested in pieces that explore issues of race, class, and sexuality in relation to gender.
Please visit our website for full submission guidelines:
http://sotospeakjournal.org/contests/
***
damselfly press, an online literary journal for women, is pleased to announce our eighteenth issue.
We are seeking electronic submissions of original fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by female writers only. Our nineteenth issue will be available April 15, 2012.
If you'd like to submit, please visit our guidelines section at http://damselflypress.net/submissions and send us your submission by March 15th, 2012.
These are the e-mails per genre editor:
(replace (at) with @)
Fiction: Jennifer(at)damselflypress.net
Poetry: lesley(at)damselflypress.net
Nonfiction: nonfiction(at)damselflypress.net
The Sustainable Arts Foundation is a non-profit foundation supporting artists and writers with families. Our mission is to provide financial awards to parents pursuing creative work.
Too often, creative impulses are set aside to meet the wonderful, but pressing, demands of raising a family. The foundation's goal is to encourage parents to continue pursuing their creative passion, and to rekindle it in those who may have let it slide.
Directed by Tony Grant and LM Editor-in-Chief Caroline M. Grant, The Sustainable Arts Foundation has made 12 grants totaling $72,000 in its first year and is now accepting applications for its 2012 awards. Deadline for applications is March 1st. For more information, visit the foundation website.
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 husband and I learned something very important at the parent-teacher conference with our son's first grade teacher: he was different at school then he was at home.
"I have no concerns about his academics," she told us. "He's excited to learn, and he's so friendly. He just needs to work a little on recognizing when it's appropriate to socialize and when it's time to stop talking."
"Geoffrey talks too much? You've got to be kidding." We were dumbfounded. At home, he hardly said a word, and we usually had to ask three questions to solicit the comments he did make.
"Oh yes," she continued. "He's quite the chatterbox. With everyone! He has one or two buddies that he's always talking to, but he'll talk to anyone who's near him. And I've noticed that if a child has a problem, they seek him out and he listens to them." And then: "He's not talkative at home? Well, that's not unusual, especially for a child who has an older sibling - and don't you have a younger child too?"
We walked home from the conference, mulling over Mrs. Seiler's comments about middle children. In addition to talking about the dynamics in our family of five, she'd related a bit of her own experiences raising three children and the unique aspects of the middle child.
Catherine Salmon and Katrin Schumann address this issue in their new book, The Secret Power of Middle Children. Their research dispels the myths that middle children are unable to find their place in the world, that they shy away from the spotlight, and that they're bitter, resentful, underachievers, and loners.
"In reality, contrary to expectations, middleborns are agents of change in business, politics, and science--more so than firstborns or lastborns. Middles are self-aware team players with remarkable diplomatic skills. Because they're both outgoing and flexible, they tend to deal well with others--in the workplace and at home. They're more motivated by fairness than money when making life choices, and have a deep sense of family, friends, and loyalty."
Birth order isn't the only characteristic that determines what a child does or how he/she interacts with family and friends, of course, but I think it's an interesting concept to explore. Listen to this interview with the authors, and then, consider these middleborns: Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Darwin, Michael Dell, Elie Wiesel, Yassar Arafat, Abraham Lincoln, Anwar Sadat, The Dalai Lama, Benjamin Franklin, Magic Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower, Desmond Tutu, Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, Lech Walesa, Bob Hope, Tony Blair, Golda Meir, Ernest Hemingway, Tom Selleck, Patty Hearst, Madonna.
Journal Entry: Describe an experience you've had with a middle child. How would the experience have been different if it had been with that individual's older or younger sibling?
Poetry
A Bank Robber's Bad Luck with His Ex-Girlfriend
By KJ Hannah Greenburg
Unbound Content, 2011
Reviewed by Ginny Kaczmarek, LM Assistant Poetry Editor
"Songbirds are entertaining. Roses smell nice. Most passion, however, resolves as cacophonous and stinky."
Just in time for Valentine's Day, KJ Hannah Greenburg, has published a new book of poetry, A Bank Robber's Bad Luck with His Ex-Girlfriend. Organized into three sections, Hope, Hurt, and Highways, these poems explore romantic love--hot and heavy or on the wane--with wit and honesty.
With her dense language, serpentine syntax, and occasionally anachronistic rhyme schemes, Greenburg manages to sound both Victorian and brashly modern. Interspersed with lines such as "When I was shepherded athwart merry straits to your doyenne-like center" (from "Poisoning via Toothbrush After 'Romancing'") are graphic descriptions of oral sex or revenge fantasies of a spurned lover (see previous poem title). A quirky mix of humor and pathos, A Bank Robber's Bad Luck, showcases an original voice and a poet worth keeping an eye on.
A few lines from "Simple Arithmetic" for Valentine's Day:
Perhaps general mood states ought
To trickle down the hippocampal more often.
Meanwhile, there's chocolate doughnuts.
WINTER 2012 FLASH FICTION CONTEST
OVERVIEW:
WOW! hosts a (quarterly) writing contest every three months. The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, communication, and well-rewarded recognition to contestants. The contest is open globally; age is of no matter; and entries must be in English. We are open to all styles of writing, although we do encourage you to take a close look at our guest judge for the season (upper right hand corner) if you are serious about winning. We love creativity, originality, and light-hearted reads. That's not to say that our guest judge will feel the same... so go wild! Express yourself, and most of all, let's have some fun!
WORD COUNT:
Maximum: 750
Minimum: 250
The title is not to be counted in your word count. We use MS Word's word count to determine the submitted entry's word count.
PROMPT:
OPEN PROMPT!
That's right, this is your chance to shine, and get creative. You can write about anything, as long as it's within the word count and fiction. So, dig out those stories you started way back when and tailor them to the word count.
We're open to any style and genre. From horror to romance! So, get creative, and most of all, have fun.
For more information, visit WOW! website and Terms and Conditions pdf.
Got an essay about a mom?
New York City-area writers and/or performers are needed to read their original essays on any aspect of motherhood for the NYC premiere of LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER, to be held on Sunday, May 6, 2012.
Pieces must be between 3 and 5 minutes in length. Participants will be chosen through an audition process:
Audition Details
to be held at a West Side Midtown Manhattan studio
by appointment only
Sunday, February 26 11a.m. - 2 p.m.
Monday, February 27 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Tuesday, February 28 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
To schedule an audition, email listentoyourmothernyc (at) gmail (dot) com. Please include your name and your availability during the time slots listed above. Exact location and other details will be sent with your confirmed appointment time.
Selected cast members must commit to two rehearsals, a pre-performance run-through at the Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Family Auditorium in Manhattan, and the 2 p.m. performance on May 6th, 2012.
LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER is a national series of live readings by local writers in celebration of Mother's Day. Check out the website for information about the directors and producers and a great post about stage fright.
Skirt!® is a nationally and locally branded Web site, magazine and book publishing company. The following list includes their monthly themes for the remainder of 2012. Submissions are due the first of the month prior to the one you are submitting.
MARCH - The Tick-Tock Issue
Losing time, making up for lost time, perfect timing, waiting, prime time, best and worst times, time off, time out, timelessness - all things time-related.
APRIL - The Wow! Issue
Inspiration, enlightenment, invention, daring, aha moments, being a muse, finding a muse, mind-blowing events, impossible dreams, big ideas.
MAY - The To-Go Issue
Travel - real and metaphorical, leaving, moving, pulling up roots, putting down roots for the first time, running away, adventure, spiritual journeys, escaping. No traditional travel pieces or photos, please.
JUNE - The Summer Issue
Anything related to summer (heat, time out, a summer state of mind, summer love, etc), but please no predictable "how I spent my summer vacation" essays.
JULY - The Independence Issue
Self-reliance, independence, rebellion, free spirits, what you wore to change the world, revolutionary moments, breaking free, letting go.
AUGUST - The Lessons Issue
Lessons learned, lessons never learned, difficult lessons, teaching moments, teachers, gurus, breaking or making rules.
SEPTEMBER - The Feel Good Issue
Getting out of a slump, recharging/changing your life, health, bodies, care of the soul, payoff/reward, growth, guilt-free decisions.
OCTOBER - The Make Issue
Art, creativity, building, creating something from scratch, making do, makeovers.
NOVEMBER - The Crave Issue
Food, desire, wanting, yearnings, appetite for life, temptation, guilty pleasures, sins, coveting.
DECEMBER - The Surprise Issue
Surprise us with an elegant, funny or insightful essay on the topic of suprises - for example, out-of-the-blue gifts, revelations, unexpected discoveries.
A personal essay is a narrative that emphasizes a personal, subjective view. All essays for consideration should be submitted in their entirety and be between 800 and 1,100 words. Essays must fit one of the monthly themes above. Please review the Contributor Guidelines carefully for format requirements. Submissions for a particular theme are due minimally by the 1st of the prior month.