Posts by Kate
magical journey
I was first introduced to Katrina Kenison through her anthology, Motherhood: Twenty Stories of Contemporary Motherhood, which I discovered when I was prepping for my very first Motherhood & Words class, seven years ago. I have been a fan of Katrina’s work ever since. Perhaps you’re familiar with her wonderful books Mitten Strings for God:…
Read Morelife/death
Today I am celebrating the birthday of my twin nieces. One year ago today, they were born full term, to our great relief. Even from the outside, the pregnancy was a stressful one. My sister experienced bleeding so intense that she thought she was miscarrying on more than one occasion. And I knew too much…
Read Morefive
My little Zoë, who is not so little anymore, turned five yesterday. FIVE! She’s still little—I know this—and I know I still have a few more little girl years left with her. Nonetheless, there is something about FIVE that seems so big, so kindergarten, so “I’m over you, Mom!” I can imagine the drama and…
Read Morea gift
I’m Western Wisconsin for my annual Motherhood & Words retreat at Faith’s Lodge. This is generally a hectic time of year for me and this year is no exception. In the days leading up to the retreat, I was on deadline with a big federal grant at work, prepping for the retreat in the evening,…
Read Morea little blog love
A few weeks ago, Lisen Stromberg honored me with a blog award, the Liebster. Lisen writes the blog An Angel of PrismWork, and I’m grateful to her for her moving prose. When you have a chance, please read this powerful piece about her son. So, to accept the Liebster Award, I have to do three things:…
Read Moreblogging, writing & adriana páramo
I’m celebrating my 6-year blogiversary this month. In January of 2007, I started this blog because I wanted to expand the discussion around motherhood literature and promote some of the mother writers I admire. Six years later, I’m still here, interviewing writers, talking about the balance between motherhood & writing. Along the way, I’ve been…
Read Morenext big thing
I’m grateful to the fabulous Sonya Huber for inviting me to participate in the Next Big Thing, a blog meme for writers. I met Sonya a few years ago on a panel at AWP, and I have so much respect for her. I’ve interviewed her here on Motherhood & Words about her memoir Cover Me, and…
Read Moremom enough
For the past couple of years, I’ve been honored to have my annual Motherhood & Words reading be recorded as a Mom Enough podcast. If you missed the 6th Annual Motherhood & Words Reading at the Loft Literary Center in October, you can listen here. Reading with me were award-winning authors Debra Gwartney and Amie…
Read Morefinding my way back
Happy New Year, friends. I hope you enjoyed the holidays. Christmas for me was busy, as it always is, but it was full of good cheer and lots of family. Then over New Year’s we spent five days at my mom’s cabin in Northern Minnesota. It was cold up there, but sunny. Each day I…
Read Morehunkering down
Friday’s tragedy in Newtown continues to reverberate through our lives, our families, our communities. From my tiny office I stare out the window at the gray skies and the dirty snow, and feel the weight of that tremendous loss, of all of those young lives obliterated. I turn to my computer when I can stand…
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