Virtual Book Tour: Literary Mama

Today I have the honor of spotlighting the stupendous anthology,  Literary Mama: Reading for the Maternally Inclined, edited by Andi Buchanan and Amy Hudock, both of whom have wonderful pieces within the covers of this powerful collection of women’s voices.

I daresay, it’s not reading just for the maternally inclined, but for all those inclined to read. Period. Because that’s what stood out for me; it’s a book chock full of vivid writing that is juicy, funny, insightful, inspiring, heady, and heartbreaking. So much so that it left this reader a bit flattened--all these women find time to mother well and passionately, to write well and passionately and to get published in not one but two forms, first in the Literary Mama's eZine and then in this beautiful Seal Press edition.

Maybe because I am nursing my own grief over my son’s challenges and my own inability to have more children, I was particularly drawn to the section of the book entitled, Surviving Illness and Loss. The whole section is incredibly moving but I found myself weeping almost entirely through Heidi Raykeil's, Johnny, taken from the memoir she’s writing about her son’s short life spent in the neonatal ICU. Here’s an excerpt:

    “We sat in that room a family, the three of us together, like we had always planned. We stripped Johnny’s prefect little body of the last of the Band-Aids and wire tape sticking to him. He was covered in pinpricks, so many tests, so many needles, for what? Physician frustration. He was a medical mystery, and he bore the brunt of it, never even making a cry. He was such a god boy, such a brave boy. I took off my shirt and laid his naked body on my belly. If only I could put him back, where he was safe and alive. I would go on being pregnant for a lifetime if it meant he would be healthy and happy, turning somersaults and kicking the days away inside of me.”

In the same section, Vicki Forman begins her piece, Dear Friend, with this sentence: “I want to tell you why: I cried in your office; bought myself an expensive purse; don’t talk about the details of my life; smile a lot; give short, simple answers.”  and ends with this: “Sometimes you don't like something your whole life but you're still meant to be here on Earth. That is the beauty, the struggle, the true puzzle; fifty pieces and more, upside down, inside out, right side in.” In the middle, she opens my chest and climbs in, moves things in me that were waiting for her precise language. Our sons are very different, but I felt a kinship with her words that soothed and lifted me.

Every piece in this collection articulated something for me. Most especially these: Holly Day's breathtaking Nebraska, Kimberly Greene Angle's sweeping Forecasts, Sybil Lockhart's poignant Gray, Lisa Rubisch's funny and cathartic How to Make a Meat Pie and Other Tales of the Ambitious Mother and all the poetry by Ona Gritz.

I’m proud of these women and proud of their voices. These writers, these mothers; these writers, these woman; these writers, these people.  To mother and write requires courage, flexibility, stamina and most of all, the willingness to take oneself seriously in the best sense of the world. I thank them all for inspiring me to be willing to do the same.

Comments

[nike shox børn]

I love you so,my dear

[Nike Free]

Energy and persistence conquer all things. Nothing seek, nothing find.

[Vick Forman]

Kyra,
My goodness, you have taken my breath away. Thank you so much for reading and for your kind words.
--Vicki

[MommyGuilt]

Ok, I MUST have this book. I have seen SO many people showing it on their blogs as What-To-Read! I think I'm going to order myself a copy. Need it NOW. Reading every book on ASDs and Asperger's is very informative and educational, but I NEED a Mommy book! Sounds like this book would also be a great Mother's Day present, too!

[Andi]

Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments about the book! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

As for finding time to write while also mothering, it's always a difficult thing to balance. Remember, though, that the pieces in the book are works that were published on the site over a year and a half -- so not written by one person, and not written all at once! In our Profiles section at literarymama.com, we have interviews with lots of mother-writers, and I think nearly all of them address this "how do you do it?" question.

My own answer is: a little at a time. And with far too much caffeine. So I would advise anyone trying to write while mothering to be patient with herself, and to not be discouraged about going slowly, and to just keep moving forward, even if it doesn't seem like you're really making progress. If all you can do is a sentence a day, that's all you can do. And some days that's enough!

Best,
Andi

[Kristen]

I got chills reading that first excerpt (about the infant in the hospital).

[Anamaria]

Okay, I'm off to the library! I recognize the flattened feeling you mentioned at the beginning of this post: how DO some people do it? and want very much to join you at the place where you ended it: inspired, serious about yourself and your work, up to the challenge.

[Felicity]

I want this book very very badly. I love Seal Press and when I fantasize about getting published, I always pretend it's them publishing me.
Have you looked at the Mom book I sent you that I forgot the title of?

[knq]

You have email :)