No matter whether your children are in the other room or miles away from you, I hope you can find a quiet place to sit down and immerse yourself in the words and musings of your fellow mothers. It is always such a joy to review each issue before we publish, and marvel at how Literary Mama editors across time zones select and polish such beautiful work.
Cindy DiTiberio, Publisher
Read the complete Letter from the Editor
Creative Nonfiction
How to Have a Miscarriage
By Rae Katz
Later
By Kate Lewis
Fiction
A Day in the Life of a Children’s Book Author
By Katia Wish
Ginkgo Biloba
By Zsófia Czakó, Marietta Morry & Walter Burgess (Translators)
The Drumstick Tree
By Ravibala Shenoy
Literary Reflections
Lessons from Lambing Season
By Jessica Gigot
Reaching for My Pen
By Andrea McCullough
Poetry
Thetis Speaks to Her Sisters
By Kerry Ryan
New Mother Poem
By Alessandra Simmons
I Don’t Buy My Children Toy Guns
By Amy Ralston Seife
The Smallest Shadow
By Kathryn Petruccelli
The Bear
By Amanda Roth
Anatomies
By Isabel Soto
Motherspeak
By Anna Abraham Gasaway
Goat in the Corner
By Deborrah Corr
Body Swap
By Gillian Shearer
Profiles
Abortion as an Act of Motherhood: Hannah Matthews
By Meghan Flaherty
Give Yourself Grace: DW McKinney
By Hannah Grieco
I’m Not So Happy For You: Amy Klein
By Brianna Avenia-Tapper
Prose Like a Poet and Permission Slips: Maggie Smith
By Cindy DiTiberio
Too Important to Stay Quiet: Jennifer Weiner
By Holly Rizzuto Palker
We’re All Stretch Armstrong Dolls: Jessica Grose
By Holly Rizzuto Palker
Reviews
Clicking Our Way to Maternal Bliss: Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture
By Nicole Graev Lipson
Finding Common Ground: American Honey: A Field Guide to Resisting Temptation
By Dorothy Rice
Stet the Tears: You Could Make This Place Beautiful
By Amanda Fields
The Ghost of Grief: Naming the Ghost
By Sherre Vernon
Check Out Our Blog
Have you read our blog lately? There is so much great content there, like our first Teen Column post, writing prompts, community news, and more, like getting to meet our intern, Isabella.
Make a habit of checking the blog at least weekly so you are among the first to see great content, like the bonus Calls for Submissions this month.
We Want to Read Your Work
At Literary Mama, we know you love to look at the Calls for Submissions posted on our blog every other month (honestly, we also love looking through them). Remember you can always submit your work to Literary Mama too! And we have no submission fees, so why not send your work today?
Celebrate 20 Years of Literary Mama!
Literary Mama is celebrating 20 years of publishing the work of mama writers in a free online journal. Check out our 20th anniversary page to read highlights of our history and view an interactive timeline.
(Psst… keep an eye on the site for updates on our anthology!)
Literary Mama Is Here Because of You
Literary Mama is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization and we are here because of readers like you who subscribe to the newsletter, engage with us on social media, buy books from our Bookshop.org store, and make tax-deductible gifts of any size. Your support makes this publication possible!