"Jennifer Jabaley has a knack for creating flawed characters, exploring their fault lines, and driving them all to the edge of ruin." @sheshellwrites.bsky.social reviews Jabaley's novel, What's Yours Is Mine:

"I am a recovering helicopter parent." Don't miss Lisa Roe, author of Big & Lily, in conversation with @hollyrizzutopal.bsky.social & Sam Field on This Mama Is Lit!

"His questions unnerve me...Where does he get these ideas? Why does his mind conjure notions that on the one hand seem so mature, but nevertheless torment him?" - from Patricia Lawler Kenet's essay, "Night Talk," in our May/June issue:

"Their desire for their daughters to succeed propels them from involved, supportive mothers to unhinged, enmeshed adversaries." @sheshellwrites.bsky.social reviews Jennifer Jabaley's novel, What's Yours Is Mine:

"The fear comes in flashes. I do my best to stop it the moment it enters the atmosphere. Pluck it from the air and stuff it into my back pocket." -from Christie Ellen's essay, "Last Swim," in our May/June issue:

It's here! We hope you love the May/June issue!

New Faith Palermo essay! electricliterature.com/my-neighbors...

Love this one!!

New Lit Mag Alert! Aftertouch Magazine www.instagram.com/p/DYHnnBDEZD...

"Most women, especially mothers—working moms, stay-at-home moms, beleaguered moms, single moms, and married moms—will recognize themselves in one or more of these tales." Dorothy Rowena Rice reviews @ladiwoods.bsky.social's story collection, published by @autumnhouse.org:

***NEW EPISODE!*** Amanda Fields & Tiffanie Drayton talk w Whitney French, author of Syncopation: A Novel in Verse! @riverstreetwriting.bsky.social

Read Misty Archambault's succinct glimpse of family, "After Midnight," in our March/April issue:

"Tomorrow I knocked on your door" Read Maureen D. Hall's poem, "Time Lapse," in our latest issue: literarymama.com/articles/dep...

*NEW EPISODE!* Rage Against the Patriarchy Amanda Fields & Sam Field talk w @laraehrlich.bsky.social, author of Bind Me Tighter Still:

@sheshellwrites.bsky.social, on attending AWP:

"How does my writer self belong in motherhood?" Katherine Harnisch reviews Mia Ayumi Malhotra's poetry collection, Mothersalt, in our latest issue:

"I found myself compelled to read story after story, in part to discover what story-telling twist the author had in store for me next." Many thanks to Dorothy Rice and @literarymama.bsky.social for this thoughtful review of this award-winning collection by @ladiwoods.bsky.social!

Read the full review here: literarymama.com/articles/dep...

The March/April issue of Literary Mama is here!

"I was getting a life-long package deal—him, his children, and their mother. But I really had no idea what to expect, and how bruising it would sometimes be." - from Quade Hermann's essay, "Just the Woman Who Married Their Father," in our latest issue:

"The thing about the story that I find resonant and that I think resonates with people 500 years later is that in so many ways, it seems like she's a woman being punished for her power and her success." @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social, author of The Beheading Game:

We're looking for a reviews editor!

"My partner started having migraines. A boy I used to go fishing with developed seizures. BP paid us more money than we’d ever seen, and we all signed releases." -from Jules Foshee's incredible essay, "Spill":

"Okay, so if you're hetero, you can go straight to IVF, but if you're queer, you have to fail six IMODs." Chloe Caldwell, author of Trying, talks with @evalangston.bsky.social & Amanda Fields on This Mama Is Lit!

@jocelynjanecox.bsky.social reviews @nglipson.bsky.social's memoir in essays, Mothers and Other Fictional Characters:

Super honored to be part of Seaside Gothic’s Issue 15.

"imagine if we allowed people to engage w poetry the way we expect people to engage w music. Nobody plays you a song they love or sends you a playlist & then says, get back to me w meanings of all of these songs." @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social on our 50th episode of This Mama Is Lit!

"After a throb of silence, we asked what was wrong. He turned to the screen and pointed to a seemingly endless list of flaws and catastrophes on you that we could neither recognize nor understand." from Michele Amoah Powponne's essay, "Dear Edith," in our Sept/Oct issue:

@amplifywithfemi.bsky.social is calling for contributions in our latest "Mama And" writing prompt: Share in the blog comments, on IG w the hashtag #MamaAnd, tagging us @literary_mama on FB, & Bluesky @literarymama.bsky.social. The prompt will remain active throughout the month.

"The translators’ skill is manifested by the diversity of voice, nuance, and tone they evoke in this assembly of twenty-four pieces by thirteen authors." ACS Bird reviews Amanat: Women’s Writing from Kazakhstan, edited and translated by Zaure Batayeva and Shelley Fairweather-Vega (Sept/Oct issue):

"I think that’s what motherhood is about—this small piece of hope that we carry around with us like a pebble. Hoping for the best for our kids as we white-knuckle the liminal time...between their constant presence and mourning their absence." @rudribhattpatel.bsky.social opens our new issue:

Submissions are open. Send us your best short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Before submitting, please review our guidelines at the link below: buff.ly/bqo8RXA #poetrycommunity

Ozzy Osbourne, the frontman of Black Sabbath, died today, at 76. Osbourne—along with half of the musicians in Led Zeppelin and the key members of Judas Priest—was raised in the bombed-out ruins of the British Midlands. Read more: nyer.cm/iCI3UFJ

It's here! We hope you enjoy the abundance of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, literary reflections, profiles, and reviews in our July/August issue!

We're looking for a senior editor to join our team! literarymama.com/opportunities

🎧 New episode 🎧 Check out our conversation with Alicia Elliott, author of “And Then She Fell,” about cultural creation stories, contemporary Indigenous life, and how a psychotic episode led to deeper understanding. Listen on Substack or wherever you get your podcasts!

“Like a quilt, in which scattered pieces of fabric are used to create a new whole, Kiefer stitches together scenes...” Read Lori Rottenberg’s review of Abbie Kiefer’s Certain Shelter here: literarymama.com/articles/dep...

"Theirs could ignite harmonicas both in and out, making music in layers. One breath could extinguish a candle with a wish; another could feed the campfire." Frm "Breath" by Jessica Claire Haney. May/June @literarymama.bsky.social literarymama.com/articles/dep...

NEW ISSUE! Publicity manager @tinypoet.bsky.social opens our May/June issue: "In a world of endless words, the blank expanses between paragraphs and product images become sanctuaries, like designated natural areas separating deforested developments. White space allows us to breathe." Read on!

Exciting news!

Our latest episode of This Mama Is Lit! features TV producer & writer Sandra Chwialkowska on her first novel, The Ends of Things, screenwriting, & surviving a book launch with a newborn. @evalangston.bsky.social @hollyrizzutopal.bsky.social @ajfields.bsky.social

Hi folks! @literarymama.bsky.social is in the search of a social media co-editor. This is a volunteer position at a org dedicated to bringing mamas and mama supporters together through literature. Spread the word: literarymama.com/opportunities

"Adoption is one of the most unregulated businesses in the country. There is no federal regulation, so people can just do whatever. They can charge whatever, they can do whatever, and it's not regulated at all." Listen to @thesusanito.bsky.social in our latest episode of This Mama Is Lit!

The Pen Parentis Writing Fellowship for New Parents: $2000, a year of mentorship, and the opportunity to read online at a Pen Parentis Literary Salon. Deadline: April 17th @penparentis.bsky.social @mmdevoe.bsky.social penparentis.org/fellowship/

NEW ISSUE!!! Our March/April issue is here, ushered in by Managing Editor Lauren Reynolds: "The mothers I know downplay their wisdom. This issue reminds me of...how much pain and joy are present at every stage of mothering." literarymama.com/issues/march...

"And I think, Here he is. Today, for now, it is not my pain. I think, If anything ever happens to you, I would . . ." Read Nicole Desjardins Gowdy's poem, "Our Children," in our March/April issue:

The Naomi Shihab Nye Prize: Organizers invite Arab American and Arab Canadian writers to submit an English-language middle-grade manuscript directed to readers ages 8–12. Link to learn more: www.albustanseeds.org/naomi-shihab...