On Writing Motherhood and Ourselves

Becoming a mother takes more than the physical act of giving birth or completing an adoption: it takes birthing oneself as a mother through psychological, intellectual, and spiritual work that continues throughout life. Yet most women’s stories of personal growth after motherhood tend to remain untold. As writers and mothers, Andrea Buchanan and Amy Hudock were frustrated by what they perceived as a lack of writing by mothers that captured the ambiguity, complexity, and humor of their experiences. So they decided to create the place they wanted to find, with the kind of writing they wanted to read.


This unique collection features the best of the online magazine literarymama.com, a site devoted to mama-centric writing with fresh voices, superior craft, and vivid imagery. While the majority of literature on parenting is not literary or is not written by mothers, this book is both. Including creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, Literary Mama celebrates the voices of the maternally inclined, paves the way for other writer mamas, and honors the difficult and rewarding work women do as they move into motherhood.

Literary Mama's site offers a preview of the introdocution to this powerful collection of work Literary Mama: Reading for the Maternally Inclined edited by Andrea J. Buchanan and Amy Hudock.  I encourage you to read the introduction here and visit literarymama.com for more writing and information.

A few more examples of literary mothers and literature about motherhood to guide us on our journey:
***Mamaphonic: Balancing Motherhood and Other Creative Acts Eds. Bee Lavendar & Maia Rossini
Mamaphonic Website
***Misconceptions: Truth, Lies and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood by Naomi Wolf
Naomi Wolf Website
***Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence by Rebecca Walker
Rebecca Walker Website
*** Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution by Adrienne Rich