Author: Mom Egg Review

I have never been one to put off work. Quite the opposite, really. I complete tasks weeks, sometimes months in advance. I am organized, a self-starter, ahead of the game at all times. (When I try to arrive fashionably late to a social function, I still end up early.) Recently, for the first time in my life, I find myself putting off the number one chore on my to-do list, and it’s a scary feeling. I know it is happening. I recognize the signs, yet I’m powerless to stop it. My procrastination does not present itself in the tub of…

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It’s probably a small miracle that I am even writing this. Time to write has become an even more precious commodity in motherhood. Yet, there is a need to write that did not go away when I became a new mother. Does that mean that I survived the vortex of being completely and absolutely captivated by my precious little one? Yes, I believe it does. Don’t get me wrong—there’s nothing more important to me than my child, but out of self-respect, and a feeling of urgency to write, I also make it important to carve out time for my creative…

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Mothers Are Making Art: Art by Melissa Charlotte Thomas Poetry by Megan Merchant The ProCreate Project, the Museum of Motherhood and the Mom Egg Review are pleased to announce the 26th edition of  this scholarly discourse intersects with the artistic to explore the wonder and the challenges of motherhood. Using words and art to connect new pathways between the academic, the para-academic, the digital, and the real, as well as the everyday: wherever you live, work, and play, the Art of Motherhood is made manifest. #JoinMAMA January, 2018 Art by Melissa Thomas words by Megan Merchant Art by Melissa Thomas The Mother and the Lemon The work will be exhibited at the Shelf…

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Review by Michelle Wilbert As the highly anticipated follow up to Kerry Neville’s well regarded debut, Necessary Lies, this new collection of short stories, Remember to Forget Me, is a deeply compassionate and humane portrayal of people living with challenging and painful circumstances yearning to find meaning and purpose—perhaps even transcendence—while living these quotidian mysteries of the human heart. Neville’s probing of her central characters is unflinching and precise while maintaining a gentle respect for their vulnerabilities and human flaws: her characters interrogate their lives with a blunt frankness that is immediately recognizable and transparent–the author is protective while…

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Review by Anne Britting Oleson In many ways, this collection of prose poems is a horror story, spanning the life of a character living Thoreau’s life of quiet desperation. The pieces are dated (1887-1948), bracketing the existence of a fictional Iowa woman, from birth to death; that life is circumscribed by geography and circumstance, both of which create a sense of claustrophobia impossible to shake off. Emily leads a narrow existence, not of her choosing. Reading this life from beginning to end, we are mired in Emily’s desperation. She is a thinking, feeling, exploring woman, but at every turn,…

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Review by Marcela Fuentes   That Woman from Mississippi, sequel to the award-winning memoir The Last Resort, takes readers through one woman’s decade-long journey of self-discovery and personal growth. It’s 1966 and Norma Watkins, Mississippi native and married mother of four, leaves her family to follow her lover to Miami. The memoir takes us through the dissolution of her first marriage, her life in Miami as a struggling graduate student and teacher, and the ten years of marriage to her second husband. The mark of good writing is ultimately, the reader’s response to the work. Norma Watkins, professor emerita at…

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For Writers and Publishers Requesting Reviews of Books Thank you for your interest in having us review a new book. Mom Egg Review considers for review full-length books and chapbooks published in the previous year, of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction, that are written by mothers, have motherhood as a subject matter, or are related to women’s experiences or issues. Very occasionally, we include reviews of books and chapbooks that are more than twelve months old.  We publish full book reviews and also a “new and notable books-in-brief” list, MER Bookshelf. If you feel your book meets our criteria, please fill…

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Review by Carol Dorf The central theme of Cheryl Wilder’s book of poems What Binds Us is family and connection in the face of disconnection. There are poems of estrangement and divorce, and also those of connection. Some of the most interesting poems contain more than one state simultaneously, such as “Foundation,” “Pupa,” and “A Way of Life.” In both “Pupa” and “A Way of Life, ” Wilder’s concern is the heritage she is giving to her son. “Pupa” begins, I point at the spot where my son’s heart beats and say, ‘there I’m always right there.’ He’s five…

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Review by Mindy Kronenberg New Found Land is an inspired collection of moments and life events revealed by a contemporary voice that echoes and gives homage to mythic tradition. Each poetic narrative casts an observant and philosophical glance on its subject, whether a view of the landscape from above the clouds, the invasive paths in a wilderness, or the discovered exotica of domestic existence. Carolyn Clark is an adept tour guide, keeping the reader aloft and in motion with tectonic shifts in topography and emotional territory. The world we’ve inherited and move through is…

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CONNECTING, EDUCATING, ADVOCATING, & LEADING SINCE 1917 WNBA Writing Contest 2018 The Women’s National Book Association Writing Contest is now open! Submit Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction/Memoir and Young Adult. Publication for top 4 winners in each category and Cash Prize for first place winners. $250 cash prizes for the winner in each category and publication in The Bookwoman. For contest requirements, fees, and submission information, please go to:www.wnba-books.org/awards To submit: https://wnba.submittable.com/submit Joan Gelfand and Carol Smallwood

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