Roundup: Literary Mothers

In our Roundups segment, we’re looking back at all the great posts since the blog started in 2009.  We explore posts from our archives as well as other top literary magazines and websites, centered on a certain theme to help you jump-start your week. In honor of Mother’s Day, this week we have posts by and about literary mothers.

From Ploughshares:

• Sarah Banse kicks off our roundup with her powerful post from last week responding as a mother and writer to the Boston Marathon bombings.
• How do you find time to write as a mother? Aimee Nezhukumatathil answers in “Writing Underwater: Notes from a Mermaid/Mer-mom.”
• We all love our mothers, but sometimes it can be hard to understand each other. Jennifer De Leon writes about “Bridging the Divide: Why I Brought My Mom to Bread Loaf.”

From Around the Web:

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  Still looking for a (somewhat-belated) Mother’s Day gift? Book Riot is here to help with a list of “Mother’s Day Gift Books That Don’t Suck.”
• The Huffington Post chimes in with a list of novels featuring memorable mothers.
• Check out The Guardian’s reflection on Mrs. Bennet, Marmee, Mrs. Ramsay, and other literary mothers.
• Is Mother’s Day not your thing? You might be interested in this list of “The Meanest Moms in Literature.”
• For those of us with lovely mothers, we’ll end with Albert Cohen’s essay on “My Mother’s Love” from The Paris Review.

As Albert Cohen puts it, “Toothless or not, strong or weak, young or old, our mothers love us. And the weaker we are, the more they love us. Our mothers’ incomparable love.”