The idea of motherhood is rife with myth and stereotype, from the ever-sacrificing mother to the mother who is blamed for the problems of the child. Children are defined as “good” (obedient) or “bad” (disobedient)
These poets explore the real experiences of mothers and children. Breathing life into the new, single mother who contemplates the perilous world she’s brought her baby into, and the responsibilities for that child, the adult child as caretaker of her dying mother, the miscarriage of a would-be mother, children experiencing confusion, abuse, etc: youths coming into adulthood, finding their paths, their voices.
Featured Readers: Sarah Carson, Pamela Garvey, Rachel Long, Jennifer Maritza McCauley, Holm Troelstrup
Youth Poets: Tamia Byrd and Maggie Farren
Cameo Poets: Caroline Johnson and Kimberly Marie.
WMG Literary Team
Nina Corwin — WMG Literary Events Curator
Nina Corwin is a published poet, Founding Editor for Fifth Wednesday Journal and psychotherapist/advocate for victims of sexual assault. She is the author of two books of poetry, The Uncertainty of Maps and Conversations With Friendly Demons and Tainted Saints. Her work has appeared in ACM, Forklift OH, Hotel Amerika, New Ohio Review, Southern Poetry Review, Verse and has been nominated for the Pushcart prize. Corwin is an Advisory Editor for Fifth Wednesday Journal and co-edited Inhabiting the Body: A Collection of Poetry and Art By Women. She has read and performed her work across the country, at times set with musical or choreographic compositions.
Jennifer Steele – WMG Literary Events Outreach Coordinator
Jennifer Steele is a published poet and educator and serves as Partnerships Coordinator for Teen Services at Chicago Public Library. She served as co-founder and co-curator of the Revolving Door Reading Series. Her work has appeared in Another Chicago Magazine, Callaloo Journal, Columbia Poetry Review, Warpland Journal, So To Speak, and others, and is a Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop fellow. She has taught creative writing and digital media arts across Chicago since 2008 and has collaborated with numerous youth organizations and cultural institutions, designing innovative arts programming.
Kurt Eric Heintz – WMG Literary Events Audio Recordist
Kurt Eric Heinz once taught computer graphics programming at Columbia College, and worked as an independent web developer. He’s since become the lead video director at Britannica. Heintz is known for his poetry videos, begun in the early 1990s. He also videoconferenced his colleagues’ poetry in the late 1990s — years before Skype and the iPhone. He was a technical adviser to the Electronic Literature Organization in its earliest years, and is the video content editor for Another Chicago Magazine.
Thank you Angela Narciso Torres, for your wonderful work and support for WMG and our Literary Program!
For an archive of past readings visit: http://voices.e-poets.net/WMG recorded by Kurt Heintz.