Posts by Kate
reporting from AWP
If you have never been to AWP, you should go at least once. The panels and readings are wonderful, of course, but also, there is just nothing like being surrounded by thousands of writers all at once. It’s overwhelming, but in a good way. Yesterday I was able to have lunch with the wonderful…
Read Morecover me
A couple of weeks ago I finished Sonya Huber’s compelling new memoir, Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir, which was released in October from University of Nebraska Press, and I can’t think of a more timely book. If you’ve ever had stress over healthcare and coverage, you will relate to this story. But perhaps it’s…
Read Morefour years
All week I’ve been thinking that today, January 28th, was the anniversary of the day I started this blog, but just now I realized it was actually January 20th. So this post is a week late, but I’m celebrating the 4th anniversary of my blog today anyway. I began this blog to create to a place…
Read Moreupcoming classes and retreats
January is flying by, which is hard to believe since I spend most of day closeted in my tiny office. But I’m so busy getting ready for AWP and my winter and spring classes that all the sudden I glance at the clock and it’s time to walk down to the bus stop to get Stella. Here’s what…
Read Moreparents with pens
Thanks to all of you for your kind birthday wishes for my grandpa. He’s had two lovely parties so far and one more tomorrow. (It makes me tired to think about three parties. Imagine doing it when you’re 102.) I’m pleased to announce that I have Kris Woll here at Mother Words today. Kris is…
Read More102
Imagine being alive for over a century and still not being ready to die—to be interested in and excited about (and sometimes disgusted with) the world. Some of you will remember my grandpa Spencer, who was ill a year ago when his abdomen filled with fluid, which made it difficult for him to breathe and…
Read Moreproud
Cecilia, one of my talented former Mother Words students, has a wonderful piece in Cassie Premo Steele’s Birthing the Mother Writer column at Literary Mama this week. Lovely writing, Cecilia. If you don’t read Cecilia’s blog, you should. She’s so fabulous. Congratulations, Cecilia!
Read Morekudos
I’ve spent the last few days obsessively reading the New York Times and listening to public radio as they cover the devastating shootings in Arizona. I can’t stop thinking of the victims’ families, and I feel heartsick about the whole thing. But today I want to focus on something positive. I *will* be positive. Here…
Read Morewhen clutter really means clutter
Many of my favorite mother bloggers have been writing about the desire to get organized at the same time they’ve been lamenting the challenge that “getting organized” poses when you have a house full of small children. I get it. I spend so much of each day picking up toys that I’m often tempted to…
Read Morehappy new year!
I hope you all had a lovely holiday. We spent the week after Christmas up at my mom’s cabin in Northern Minnesota, and it was just the change of scene I needed. Stella and D cleared an ice rink on the lake, and Stella skated back and forth, undaunted by the number of times she…
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