September 20, 2019
Motherhood So White: A Conversation With Nefertiti Austin
As she puts it herself, Nefertiti Austin “writes about the erasure of diverse voices in motherhood.” This is deeply important work, which is why you need to read her new […]
September 17, 2019
“Sexy, Messy, Scary, Fun, Overwhelming, and Precarious”: A Conversation with Carley Moore
Carley Moore is a writer, mother, and teacher, and all of these roles find their way into her terrific new novel, The Not Wives (Feminist Press). The book brings together […]
March 18, 2019
Making the Familiar Strange: A Conversation With Wendy Chin-Tanner
Wendy Chin-Tanner has published two poetry books with Sibling Rivalry Press, Turn (2014), which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards, and Anyone Will Tell You (April 2019). She […]
January 18, 2019
Tully: Savoir Mermaids and “the Wild Heart that Still Beats Inside the Docile Cow” of the Mother
[Spoiler Alert] At the simplest level, Jason Reitman’s Tully tells the tale of Marlo’s (Charlize Theron) struggle with the arrival of her third child and consequent hiring of a night […]
July 20, 2017
Eating the World
Parenting literature says that we should read to our newborns from the very beginning. Exposure to music is also supposed to support cognitive development, even in the womb, but I […]
July 19, 2017
“Your Body Includes and Is the Meaning”: Five Hot Lifestyle Tips from Walt Whitman
While being pregnant brought on particular food cravings (doughnuts, the clichéd pickles), having a baby girl out in the world has brought on an unexpected and particular reading craving—Walt Whitman. […]
June 21, 2017
“There is that in me”: On Selves
Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) – Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” To say that I’ve been a “private” blogger […]
May 24, 2017
On Mutating Into a Mother
This is the third installment of a series on writing and motherhood. Read parts one and two here. When my son was first born, I feared he might be possessed. […]
May 19, 2017
Carrying Chaos Inside
This is the second installment of a series on writing and motherhood. Read part one one, and part three. Today I told my husband I wanted to find a way […]
May 11, 2017
The Body as Essay (Part 1)
In Ancient Greece they spoke of a wandering womb as the root of hysteria. The uterus is like women; it’s capable of so much but still has to defend itself against […]