Literary Mama (LiteraryMama.com) is a U.S.-based online literary magazine focused on publishing writing about motherhood in a variety of genres. The writings found in Literary Mama challenge all types of media to rethink its narrow focus of what mothers think and do. Updated monthly, the departments include columns, creative nonfiction, fiction, Literary Reflections, poetry, Profiles and Reviews, OpEd, and a blog. Literary Mama reaches 40,000 readers monthly.
Inspired by the variety of mothers and mothering, co-founder Amy Hudock sought out and gathered women in Berkeley, California interested in reading and writing about motherhood. This group challenged the conventional two-way street of motherhood commonly found in mainstream media: either "sickly sweet" or utterly negative. "We weren't able to get our work published because the glossy parenting magazines only wanted articles that showed only a small part of motherhood and we wanted a place where we could publish our work and find work we wanted to read," says Ms. Hudock. With the collaboration of co-founder Andrea J. Buchanan, Literary Mama: A Literary Magazine for the Maternally Inclined was born. [1] The first issue appeared in November 2003. [2]
The magazine's mission since 2003, as stated on its website, is to feature "poetry, fiction, columns, and creative nonfiction that may be too raw, too irreverent, too ironic, or too body-conscious for traditional or commercial motherhood publications." [3] A weekly ezine is sent highlighting new works specific to department, column, and the blog. True to the mission of Literary Mama, the magazine encourages Mama and non-Mama writers alike to submit work for review and for possible publication. The Literary Reflections department posts a monthly writing prompt, and classes are offered to help writers reach their goals.
Literary Mama was named by Writer's Digest as one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" [4] and by Forbes for "Best of the Web".
An anthology of selected pieces from 2003 to 2005 was published in December 2005 by Seal Press, ISBN 1-58005-158-8. [5]
Below is a listing of contributors to the Literary Mama body of work at LiteraryMama.com who have published books:
1. Original graphic for Literary Mama was designed by Andi Buchanan.
2. Graphic for front cover of anthology was designed by Justin Marler and Gerilyn Attebery for Seal Press.
Di Brandt is a Canadian poet and scholar. She is Winnipeg's first Poet Laureate.
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Anne Compton is a Canadian poet, critic, and anthologist.
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Hanne Blank is an American historian, writer, editor and public speaker. She has also edited and written erotica but is retired from that genre. Blank believes in civil rights in general and fat rights in particular. She says: "For me, as a progressive feminist, opposing the whole range of physical-body-based prejudices and stigmas is all of a piece. Fatness and fat rights happen to be two of my personal issues, so it's a topic I can speak to from the inside. But fat politics are not separate from my overall politics of inclusion and human value."
Ariel Gore is a journalist, memoirist, novelist, nonfiction author, and teacher. Gore has authored more than ten novels. Gore's fiction and nonfiction work also explores creativity, spirituality, queer culture, and positive psychology. She is the founding editor/publisher of Hip Mama, an Alternative Press Award-winning publication covering the culture and politics of motherhood. Through her work on Hip Mama, Gore is widely credited with launching maternal feminism and the contemporary mothers' movement.
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