Elizabeth Conway

WRITING PROMPT: Write a love poem to the bitter cold. Start or end with: “A Great Blue Heron stood on one leg in the Clark Fork River.”

#weeklywritingprompt

Best Small Fictions 2026 Nominations Literary Mama is thrilled to announce its nominations for Best Small Fictions 2026: Tuesday Morning (Ordinary Time) by Polly Farquhar Fighting Wind by Sage Tyrtle Breath by Jessica Claire Ha...

Thrilled to announce @literarymama.bsky.social nominations for Best Small Fictions 2026! CONGRATULATIONS WRITERS!! literarymama.com/blog/archive... #bestsmallfiction

November/December 2025 Literary Mama

It's here! Check out the fiction, nonfiction, poetry, literary reflections, profiles, and reviews in our new issue!

Eleven Heartbeats Long It is late summer in Virginia, and the night is full of cicadas—the breeze drifting through the windows as Beth paces in her bedroom, waiting for her son’s screams to start. Her beautiful sun-streaked...

"He is on fire, lit from the inside, his face blotchy-red and his hair sweat-soaked as he shrieks. He is a spark let loose, a wildfire raging."

From Kristen-Paige Madonia's story "Eleven Heartbeats Long" out today in @literarymama.bsky.social

literarymama.com/articles/dep...

Tuesday Morning (Ordinary Time) Baby, don’t you know, on cold mornings when I kiss your warm cheek and forehead, the fine hairs there the same as they always were, and slip your knee socks over your feet and pull you out of bed to g...

"Baby, don’t you know, the only reason I go to weekday mass is to hear the children sing?"

From Polly Farquhar's piece "Tuesday Morning (Ordinary Time)"

New issue & new fiction out today @literarymama.bsky.social!

literarymama.com/articles/dep...

This deer.

Literary Mama Pushcart Prize Nominations The staff of Literary Mama is delighted to share our nominations for the Pushcart Prize. Ficton: "Your Sixty Seconds" by Susan Perabo and "Fighting Wind" by Sage Tyrtle Nonfiction: "Slicing Pe...

Congratulations to our Pushcart nominees! For links to their work, visit our below blog post!

@susanperabo.bsky.social, @sagetyrtle.bsky.social, Jill Finnessy, Julie Pfeiffer, Francine Diodati, and Caedra Scott-Flaherty!

Eee! Pushcart nom. from the amazing @literarymama.bsky.social for my story "Fighting Wind" which starts "Mom married Hurricane Gerald because he was strong. Passionate. Because he was too big for the car, too big for the house, too big for an office job..." Read more below:

#FlashFiction #FlashLit

Oh hey, that’s from my novel 😊.

Thank you, public lands! We hope you're out and about celebrating today somewhere on the trail, in the trees, at the shore, watching wildlife, on a scenic fall drive…there are so many ways to enjoy and explore our beautiful public lands!

#nationalpubliclandsday

Writers' Room 2025

Writers' Room workshop are back! Last chance to sign up for these fantastic workshops with Missoula Writing Collab! I am especially obsessed with "Scare Tactics" secure.qgiv.com/for/writersr...

#writingworkshops #missoulawrites

It was an honor to work on this incredible, complex, and honest story with Judith!

CONGRATULATIONS to @susanperabo.bsky.social and Edith-Nicole Cameron. These are beautiful, lingering pieces on motherhood.

When a Story Becomes a Ride The power of storytelling to keep wilderness alive.

"Smoke and I have done more than 25 events in the past year, each one unique. But last night felt different—

...By the time we began, every one of the 70 seats at the Montana Natural History Center was filled, with more people still on the waitlist...."

open.substack.com/pub/evamaggi...

September/October 2025 Literary Mama

The stunning September/October issue of @literarymama.bsky.social is out today. Senior Editor @rudribhattpatel.bsky.social suggests we “read and reflect on what these mother-writers are all showing us: different ways to carry hope for our children.” ❤️ literarymama.com/issues/septe...

Left Field It’s the bottom of the sixth inning and I’m sweating in my beach chair. My son’s team is losing, and I’m cursing the obnoxious opposing team with their excitable coaches in tight pants. Calm down,...

"As Cam rounds the bases and makes it home, I tell myself over and over: he’s okay, he’s okay, he’ll be okay." Read "Left Field," a beautiful story by Kristen Moraine, in the Sept/Oct issue of @literarymama.bsky.social literarymama.com/articles/dep...

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:

Thank you, public lands.

WRITING PROMPT: The lunar eclipse earlier this month lasted approximately 82 minutes. What happened in those 82 minutes? To whom? And where? Think both broad and focused.

Start with: “He smells spiced oranges…”

#weeklywritingprompt

September/October 2025 Literary Mama

Sept/Oct issue of @literarymama.bsky.social is out! Enjoy this new beautiful issue!

"As you read our latest issue of Literary Mama, we read and reflect on what these mother-writers are all showing us: different ways to carry hope for our children..."

literarymama.com

A Ruptured Beatitude Joanna closes her eyes to the soothing alto tones of the midwife. “Place your hands on your belly. Imagine your fingertips sending light and love to your baby. Inhale. Exhale. See yourself easing into...

“Hey, wake up,” an old woman yelled. “Don’t you know someone could kidnap your baby while you’re there having your beauty rest? I should call child welfare.” People notice mothers when they do something wrong...

Frm "A Ruptured Beatitude" @literarymama.bsky.social

literarymama.com/articles/dep...

WRITING PROMPT: Pick one of these collective nouns used to describe various bird flocks. Write a poem. Write another poem.

• A museum of waxwings
• A chime of wrens
• A quilt of eiders
• A mural of buntings
• A booby of nuthatches
• A conspiracy of ravens
• A worm of robins

#weeklywritingprompt

Writers' Room 2025

New sessions of The Writers' Room Workshops with the Missoula Writing Collab are up now! secure.qgiv.com/for/writersr...

#writersroom #writingworkshops #missoulawrites

NEA cancels decades-long creative writing fellowship For decades the program has supported writers who would become big names – Alice Walker, Michael Cunningham, Louise Erdrich and more. Last week, applicants got an email saying the program would be no more.

For decades the program has supported writers who would become big names – Alice Walker, Michael Cunningham, Louise Erdrich and more. Last week, applicants got an email saying the program would be no more.

WRITING PROMPT: Think of a newborn. What do they smell/sound like? Remind you of? Jot down these descriptions. Now -- write about something that has nothing to do with a newborn using these descriptives you created.

Start with: "The borrowed pair of shoes were too small...."

#weeklywritingprompt

First Friday (9/5) with MWC at the Missoula Public Library! Words with Wings campers will receive their camp anthologies and participate in a short reading starting at 5:30pm.

Writing retreat/experience with Freeflow on a float down the legendary and imperiled Colorado River through Grand Canyon, listening, writing, and witnessing, in deep immersion and deep time | OPEN TO EVERYONE

Accepting applications now until September 10th.

freeflowinstitute.com

Start with: "The afternoon sun was unapologetic."
Ends with: "The cat, restless and well-fed, paced back and forth on the kitchen floor."

#writingprompt #weeklywritingprompt

In 2007, when a new ed. of the Oxford Jr Dictionary was published, 40 common words about nature had been dropped apparently no longer being used enough by children to merit place in the dictionary. List of these "lost words" included dandelion, heron, otter, etc... houseofanansi.com/products/the...