Let the countdown begin!
3, 2, 1 ...
In April, we announced that Literary Mama would be taking a break. As a volunteer-run organization, we’d stretched ourselves too thin. Over the past few months, we’ve taken time to regroup and recharge, and we’re excited to announce that Literary Mama will begin accepting submissions again this September! Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.
While we prepare our next issue, expected in January, our senior editors will be sharing some of their favorite submissions from previous issues, the pieces that burrowed into their hearts and won’t let go.
First up: Sarah Johnson LaBarbera, who joined the Literary Mama staff in 2020.
“I realized how much my favorite pieces reflect my own complicated and often fractious relationship with the identity of motherhood. I mean, we publish so many absolutely gorgeous pieces about the beautiful highs of motherhood, but it’s usually the razor-sharp writing about the muddy middle or the lows that I gravitate to.”
— SJL
The Woodpecker
By Annie Marhefka
Creative Nonfiction
“I love the surreal, dreamlike atmosphere in this piece. It disintegrates the formality of genre so that you forget you’re reading creative nonfiction. It lends itself well to the early days of motherhood: the wonder, the terror, the exhaustion.”
Noelle Strodemeyer Sucks
By Kim Magowan
Fiction
”This makes me laugh every time I read it. If “The Woodpecker” makes you forget you’re reading nonfiction, this one makes you forget you’re reading fiction because we all know (and hate) Noelle. A delightful invitation to indulge your inner judgmental fiend.”
Feast of the Mommy-Shamers
By Sonia Beauchamp
Poetry
”This poem is a judgement buffet, which is clearly a theme I love—especially when it comes packaged in such jarring imagery. I love the dig at mommy culture even if I hate the forced realization that we’re all problematic. Also, what an opening line.”
After having a panic attack in Target Optical
By Shea Tuttle
Poetry
”This poem lulled me in for a late-act gut punch; I remember connecting with another staff member after it was published, just sharing in stunned aftershock. The struggle with the mother-identity is often not directly rooted in our children, but they are still hopelessly entangled with it, and this poem captures that messiness and more.”
This Mama Is Lit!
The Literary Mama journal may have taken a break, but our podcast has continued to offer monthly interviews with mama writers. Catch up on the latest episodes.