Writing Motherhood

Class Description

Motherhood changes us, and all of us in different ways: it can affect our roles in society and our families, our sense of time and priorities, our bodies, and even our writing. Becoming a parent and beginning to care for a child is a creative practice, yet we may find it difficult to find the time, or the motivation, to put pen to paper during the labor that is mothering. This workshop is for writers who have become mothers (self-defined), or mothers who need to write. In this four-week class, we will read and discuss texts on the topic of motherhood from a diversity of perspectives, and explore and interrogate our own relationship with motherhood through our writing.

Each week we will explore a topic such as pregnancy/expectancy, what we learned (or didn’t learn) from our own mothers, the labor of motherhood, and more. We will read texts pertaining to the topic across literary disciplines and from many different perspectives, from authors such as Toni Morrison, Sylvia Plath, bell hooks and Maxine Hong Kingston. You will also be given 2-3 prompts each week to spur your own writing. You will receive feedback from the instructor and the rest of the class on at least one piece of writing, as well as conversations about your work and informal feedback throughout.

If you are interested in reading some of Aimee's poetry and articles published on motherhood, see below:

"My Queerness Helped me Understand Being a Better Mom" via PopSugar

"The Pandemic has Made Single Motherhood Even More Single" via PopSugar

"Night Waking" via Raising Mothers

"Fragments on motherhood in 9 parts" via Raising Mothers

You will come away from the class with at least one draft, and the feedback and insight to continue developing it.

Class Format

This is an Online: On-Demand class that will take place on our asynchronous online learning platform, Wet.Ink. Weekly lessons and assignments open each Wednesday. Students will receive an invitation to Wet Ink before 5pm on the first day of class! All video lectures for Online: On-Demand courses have closed captioning available. To enable, click "cc" on the toolbar of each video lecture.

*NOTE that while our handy dandy "Schedule" tab states a 6-7pm class time, there are actually no live meetings for this class! Weekly lessons and assignments open each Wednesday. Students will receive an invitation to Wet Ink, our online class platform, before 5pm on the first day of class.

Scholarship Information

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.