Call for Submissions: The Maternal Is Political

Writer-mamas, how do your political views affect the way you parent? How has motherhood shaped or transformed your politics? How does the act of mothering serve as a form of activism in your life? What important work is being done at the place where motherhood and politics meet? Shari MacDonald Strong is seeking essay submissions for a literary anthology about mothers who are changing the world; about the relationship between motherhood and social change. The deadline is June 1, 2007. Selected essays will appear in the anthology The Maternal Is Political (Spring 2008, Seal Press). For more details, see the submissions guidelines at Shari’s blog. (The call for submissions will be posted on Seal Press's website in the next few days.)

Literary Mama Poem featured on Endicott Studio for Mythic Arts Blog

"Rapunzel's Mother" by Carolyn Williams-Noren (currently featured in the Literary Mama poetery department) was discussed on the Endicott Studio for Mythic Arts blog this week as part of a focus on the Rapunzel myth. Congratulations, Carolyn!

Help Wanted!

Would you like to join our editorial staff? We're looking for a very part-time Associate Editor -- or two -- in Columns, as well as a Copyeditor. The ideal AE has experience as a substantive or line editor, while the ideal CE is psychotic about detail and is comfortable writing (and testing) links in HTML.

You'll work with amazing writers and editors, plus gain exposure to publishing industry contacts. We are an all-volunteer organization, though, so unfortunately we can't offer payment.

To apply, please send an email expressing your interest and summarizing your experience to marjo(at)literarymama.com (replace (at) with the @ sign).

Contest: Are You a Writer Mama (or Papa)?

Writer's Digest wants to hear from you on the topic of "When Parenting and Writing Collide." Write your best original, unpublished parenting-and-writing story in a 500-word essay and email it to publicity(at)fwpubs.com with "Writer Mama contest" in the subject line.

Christina Katz, author of Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids will select the top three entries. The first-place entry will be published in an upcoming issue of "Writer's Digest" magazine; second- and third-place entries will be posted on WriterMama.com. All winners will receive a signed copy of "Writer Mama." All entries must be e-mailed by March 31.

The fine print: The entry must be written in the body of the e-mail; attachments will not be accepted or opened. Each entry should include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. Only the winning writers will be contacted, and entries will not be returned. "Writer's Digest" retains first-time rights to run the winning entries in the magazine and/or on their website or associated websites, after which all rights return to the author. The decisions of the editors are final.

American Public Media Seeks Your Input

Balancing fertility treatments with the cost
American Public Media is working on a story for public radio looking at the choices couples face when they have trouble having a baby.

Have you or someone you know had infertility treatments? How did cost factor into your decision? Have you considered other options?

Please share your insights with us at www.americanpublicmedia.org/pin/fertilitytreatment

What do you do when you see a parent about to lose it in public?

It happens in grocery stores, on airplanes and at shopping malls. A child is having a temper tantrum. You see a frazzled parent on the verge of losing it.

What do you do? And, what if that parent is you?

The Wakanheza Project in Ramsey County, Minnesota, teaches that strangers can diffuse a tense parent-child situation by stepping in. A kind word, an unrelated question, a helpful gesture – any of these can distract the parent for just long enough to help her regain composure and prevent the situation from escalating.

We're working on a public radio story exploring this practice which seems to go against our natural inclinations, or what we've been taught: to mind our own business.

If you're a parent who's witnessed a parent losing it with kids in public, or been that parent, we'd like to hear from you.

To share your story, please visit: www.americanpublicmedia.org/pin/publicparenting

We'd also appreciate any ideas you have for future stories on family issues. To tell us what you'd like to hear more about, please visit www.americanpublicmedia.org/pin/family

Former LM Editor & Columnist in San Francisco Chronicle

Former LM editor and columnist Sophia Raday is featured in a San Francisco Chronicle article on how military families are coping with the war. As the conflict approaches its four-year anniversary, Sophia’s husband has been deployed to serve in Iraq. Meanwhile, Sophia is at work on a memoir based on her LM columns. Look for more about her book here soon!

Call for Submissions - Seal Press

How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel, Edited by Sarah Franklin
To be published by Seal Press, Spring 2008

From the submission guidelines: "How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel is a collection of humorous essays by women. Whether it’s being stuck on the tarmac for 15 hours with Dora the Explorer for company, or discovering that the road trip these days is more National Lampoon than Jack Kerouac, this anthology depicts the good, the bad, and the just plain hilarious side of traveling with children."

Washington D.C. Reading & Signing

If you're in the Washington D.C. area, please join us for a champagne toast and reading to celebrate the launch of Not What I Expected: The Unpredictable Road from Womanhood to Motherhood. The anothology includes a story by LM Fiction Editor Suzanne Kamata, and a piece by Donna Vitucci that originally appeared in Literary Mama. Books will be for sale and signings are encouraged!

Tuesday, March 20th
7pm-10pm
The Lyon Park House
414 N Fillmore
Arlington, VA 22205

Seattle, WA Reading & Signing

LM Columnist Rachel Sarah will be reading from her book Single Mom Seeking: Playdates, Blind Dates, and Other Dispatches from the Dating World at two locations in Seattle:

March 21, 2007, 7 p.m.
University Bookstore
4326 University Way NE, Seattle, WA

March 22, 2007, 7 p.m.
Third Place Books
17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA

Women writing op-eds

Fellow LM editor Caroline Grant sent me a link to this recent NYT article about Cathy Orenstein teaching women to write op-eds. My favorite quote?

“I try to convey the idea that there is a responsibility,” she said. “Op-ed pages are so enormously powerful. It’s one of the few places open to the public. Where else is someone like me going to get access? It’s not like I can call up the White House: ‘Hello?’ ”

LM Fiction Editor Reading at Four Stories Event

Literary Mama Fiction Editor, Suzanne Kamata, will be reading from her forthcoming novel Losing Kei at the Portugalia Bar and Grill in Osaka, Japan, Sunday night, March 18. This event is an offshoot of the popular Boston reading series, Four Stories. But don't worry if you can't make it to Osaka. You can download and listen to an MP3 recording of the event in a week or so. LM columnist Jessica Berger Gross was a reader at last November's Four Stories. You can listen to Jessica read her essay here.

Single State of the Union

Editor-in-Chief Amy Hudock and columnist Rachel Sarah have essays appearing in Single State of the Union, which has just been published by Seal Press. Way to go!