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My interview w/ Ellen Elder – co-poetry editor of Literary Mama + call for subs via Tell Tell Poetry

Trish Hopkinson

Welcome to the eleventh interview in my 12-part poetry submissions interview series for Tell Tell Poetry with Ellen Elder, co-poetry editor of Literary Mama–a publishing venue for writers who write about and identify as mothers and/or through mothering–talks with me about how she became a poetry editor, how Literary Mama manages submissions and selects work for publication, what she looks for in poems being considered, and the importance of inclusivity in the literary community. Hear what Ellen is up to with her own writing projects and how to sign up for Literary Mama updates. See my most recent interview and call for submissions with Ellen below as well.

Click here to watch the interview or read the transcript.

I’ve really enjoyed working with the incredible staff at Tell Tell for this series. Tell Tell Poetry “is a poetry resource site dedicated to bringing you news about poetry, interviews with poets, and editing services.”

NO FEE submission call & interview – Literary Mama, DEADLINE: Always Open

Literary Mama is open for submissions year round. They publish literary writing about the many faces of motherhood. Since 2003, they have celebrated “the physical, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual processes of becoming a mother through words and images that may be so stark it hurts.” If you aren’t familiar with Literary Mama, set aside an hour or two with a glass of your favorite adult beverage and check out the variety of talented writers they publish. In addition to their own submission calls, Literary Mama posts a list of calls for submissions for their readers on the first Wednesday of every month. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter to get updates on other calls as they come up.

Many thanks to Literary Mama for publishing my poem Dragonfly Daughter published in their May/June 2020 issue. You can also read My review of The Body’s Alphabet by Ann Tweedy published in the December 2016 issue. If you’re interested in writing reviews, browse through some the reviews Literary Mama publishes in each monthly issue to get a feel for how they are written. Also, many presses/authors will provide a review copy for free. For more info on how to write book reviews, check out these posts: My Year of Writing Poetry Book Reviews – guest post by Deborah Bacharach and How to Write a Book Review in Ten Easy Steps (just kidding; it’s not always easy) – guest blog post by Eileen “Mish” Murphy.

For more information on Literary Mama, see my interview with poetry editors Libby Maxey and Ellen Elder and a link to submission guidelines below.

HOPKINSON: Tell me a little bit about Literary Mama.

MAXEY/ELDER: Literary Mama is a publishing venue for writers who write about and identify as mothers and/or through mothering, who seek to publish their experiences across genres, documenting the broad, ever-changing scope of motherhood.

HOPKINSON: How/why was Literary Mama originally started?

MAXEY/ELDER: Literary Mama began in Berkeley, California in 2003 when a group of women writers who also identified as mothers wanted to encourage others to share their stories in a literary forum. They wanted to push beyond the more two-dimensional assumptions about mothers and who they are, both in what they wrote about and in how they wrote about it.

HOPKINSON: Who is your target reader audience?

MAXEY/ELDER: Mama and non-mama readers interested in the varieties and challenges of literary and artistic expressions of mothering.

HOPKINSON: What type of work are you looking for?

MAXEY/ELDER: As we specify on the website, “we are looking for unpublished poems extraordinary in vision, craft, integrity, and originality. Poems of any length and form are welcome.” Sometimes, we have to pass over good work because it doesn’t speak to parenthood; we’re always interested in the unexpected, but we can only accept poems that fit within the journal’s range of focus.

HOPKINSON: What do you wish you’d see submitted, but rarely comes in?

MAXEY/ELDER: Of what comes in, we like more poems than we can publish, but we are also looking for work that illuminates the nontraditional and unexpected sides and consequences of motherhood and mothering. We welcome more work from underrepresented writers who identify as mothers and who highlight perspectives and relationships often not shared. We are also interested in more hybrid work that leaps off the screen in voice and performance, that is gutsy and sings, and that satisfies from title to last line.

HOPKINSON: What are some of your favorite lit mags/journals?

MAXEY/ELDER: There are many! Banshee Press, Harbor Review, Mom Egg Review, the museum of americana, Phoebe, West Trestle Review, The Maynard, 3Elements Literary Review and Whale Road Review come to mind…

HOPKINSON: What is your favorite part of being on staff with Literary Mama?

MAXEY/ELDER: Collaborating on reading the submitted poems, discussing them and communicating with the individual poets–some of whom have never submitted poetry before–is such a rewarding experience, whereas by comparison the act of writing poetry is too often an insular experience. It seems vital, also, to keep poetry in motion by continuing to seek new work and share as much as we can with Literary Mama readers.

HOPKINSON: Where can we send submissions?

MAXEY/ELDER: literarymamapoetry@gmail.com

HOPKINSON: If someone has a question, how can they contact you?

MAXEY/ELDER: literarymamapoetry@gmail.com

Click here to read submission guidelines.

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