Motherhood and Literature

This is what I'd like to be working on rather than writing my uni assignments. I wish I could go. Parking this here for when I get around to doing that PhD. By then, the papers from the conference will be available as a book.

In the meantime I'm happy to be reading this, which also suggests titles for those interested in the topic. Thanks to blue milk for sharing.
http://criticalflame.org/out-of-body-reading-gender-through-womens-fiction/

CALL FOR PAPERS   INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Hosted by the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI) and Ryerson University MOTHERS, MOTHERING, AND MOTHERHOOD IN LITERATURE   (Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Life Writing, Creative   Non-Fiction, Social Media) October 22-24, 2014   Heaslip House, Ryerson University   (297 Victoria Street, Toronto)

In 1976, Adrienne Rich broke new ground with her text Of Woman Born, in which she challenged scholars to confront their tendency to avoid discussions of motherhood, observing: "We know more about the air we breathe, the seas we travel, than about the nature and meaning of motherhood." Rich's book helped to launch the academic study of mothering in literature, as evidenced by the publication of several key texts: The Lost Tradition: Mothers and Daughters in Literature (1980), Mother Puzzles: Daughters and Mothers in Contemporary American Literature (1989), Women's Fiction Between the Wars: Mothers, Daughters, and Writing (1998), This Giving Birth: Pregnancy and Childbirth in American Women's Writing (2000), and Textual Mothers, Maternal Texts (2010). The aim of this conference is to advance the study of maternal representations in literary texts throughout history, across diverse narrative genres (fiction, poetry, drama, life writing, creative non-fiction, and social media), and from various maternal perspectives (nationality, ethnicity, race, class, ability, sexuality, ability, age, etc.). Papers from a wide range of disciplines and cultural perspectives, both theoretical/scholarly and creative (stories, narrative, creative non-fiction, poetry) are highly encouraged. If you are interested in being considered as a presenter, please send a 250-word abstract and a 50-word bio by April 15, 2014 to BOTH Andrea O'Reilly: aoreilly@yorku.ca and Liz Podnieks: lpodniek@ryerson.ca ** TO SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT FOR THIS CONFERENCE, ONE MUST BE A MEMBER OF MIRCI: http://www.motherhoodinitiative.org/membership.html Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI) 140 Holland St. West, PO Box 13022, Bradford, ON, L3Z 2Y5 (905) 775-9089 http://www.motherhoodinitiative.org  info@motherhoodinitiative.org