Shellie Kalinsky

Dear Edith I saw you as a bean on a screen and I knew you were mine. Your father thought you were Albert, like his own father, but I knew that you were Edith, to be named for my much loved grandmother. You we...

"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:

Mama and...Self-Care Two sets of pounding feet followed by shrieks of laughter. What are the kids doing,” I thought. I shrugged and kept writing. I had a cup of Bustelo, my Golden Era hip-hop at low volume, and a ...

@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.

Letters from Kazakhstan: A Review of Women’s Writing in Amanat In the introduction to this first-of-its-kind collection, editors and translators Zaure Batayeva and Shelley Fairweather-Vega explain that the Kazakh word amanat carries multiple interpretations. It c...

"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):

From the Editor September/October 2025 Last September I entered a new season of motherhood. My one-year-old suddenly became this eighteen-year-old launching her life halfway across the country. The days leading up were filled with late-nig...

"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

May/June 2025 Literary Mama

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

Opportunities Literary Mama is an all-volunteer organization that brings mamas and mama supporters together through literature. Over the years, our staff has included mamas of all sorts, reaching across identities ...

We're looking for a senior editor to join our team!

literarymama.com/opportunities

Alicia Elliott: Creating with Intention Eva and Amanda chat 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.

🎧 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...

Breath When the large poodle tried to lick her son’s hand, he cried, “It’s warm! Mama! Dog breath is warm! Not cold like yours!” Mama paused. Her son thought she was frozen inside. She smiled awkwardly at...

"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...

May/June 2025 Literary Mama

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!

Sandra Chwialkowska: Perfect Victims Eva Langston, Holly Rizzuto Palker + Amanda Fields chat with Sandra Chwialkowska, author of The Ends of Things, about screenwriting versus novel-writing + surviving a book launch with a newborn baby.

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

Opportunities Literary Mama is an all-volunteer organization that brings mamas and mama supporters together through literature. Over the years, our staff has included mamas of all sorts, reaching across identities ...

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

Intentional Reads: A Few Good Mama Poets April is National Poetry Month and of course, a great reason to celebrate poets who happen to also be mothers. The National Poetry Foundation has shared several poems highlighting themes associated wi...

literarymama.com/blog/archive...

Susan Kiyo Ito: Adoption, Birth Mothers, & Reproductive Justice Amanda Fields and Holly Rizzuto Palker speak with Susan Kiyo Ito, author of I Would Meet You Anywhere, about adoption, the complexities of meeting one's birth mother, and reproductive freedom.

"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!

Fellowship Guidelines - De Groot Foundation - Pen Parentis Join Pen Parentis Writing Fellowship - a platform for talented parent writers. Rise in your career, win 2000 Enroll now.

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/

March/April 2025 Literary Mama

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...

Our Children I drop my son off at kindergarten. The children’s faces peer from the windows of his classroom onto the front yard of the school. Not their real faces, but cutout photos of them. I can’t help thinking...

"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...

Meaning in Making: A Review of Good Mom on Paper: Writers on Creativity and Motherhood How do creative mothers balance the responsibilities of motherhood with our call to artistic endeavors? Editors Stacey May Fowles and Jen Sookfong Lee, both authors and mothers, have carefully crafted...

In our March/April issue, Heather Brown Barrett reviews Stacey May Fowles & @jensookfonglee.bsky.social's anthology, Good Mom on Paper: Writers on Creativity & Motherhood:

Nice review of GOOD MOM ON PAPER, with a mention of the funny/heartbreaking essay by Meaghan Strimas that features me in a minor role as an NPC.

At NIH, ‘everyone is on edge’ as they brace for deep cuts and more centralized control As the NIH braces for cuts of up to 5,000 of its 20,000 positions, “people are scrambling and freaking out,” a researcher said.

NIH is likely cutting up to 25% of its workforce this week. NIH staff have substantial expertise, typically PhDs. And they really *believe* in the work. NIH's will not be able to meet its mission w/these cuts. The scientific threat is not just direct funding cuts www.statnews.com/2025/03/14/n...

Leaked memo: DOGE plots to cut Social Security phone support Changes could break the system, former officials say.

So it appears DOGE has decreed that Social Security administration will no longer provide phone support. At all. This is in addition to shutting down a ton of local SSA offices. www.axios.com/2025/03/17/s...

Scheduling interviews with some amazing authors (with some very long, crazy journeys) for my new podcast THE LONG ROAD TO PUBLISHING.

Follow me on Substack for updates along with all my usual #writing resources! #writingcommunity
evalangston.substack.com

“We wire the sky for comfort; we thread it through our lungs for a perfect fit. We’ve arranged this calm, though it is constantly unraveling. Where does it go then, atmosphere suckered up an invisible flue? How can we know where it goes?” - Rita Dove

Such a great episode with the author of a fantastic #memoir that was named a @literarymama.bsky.social best book of the year!

#writingcommunity #writermoms #authorinterview #bedrest