Quill and Quire Praises Double Lives

In Quill & Quire's April 2008 issue, Kristen den Hartog had this to say about Double Lives: Motherhood and Writing:

"These essays cover a broad terrain. The authors included here--some well-know, many little-known--are diverse in their backgrounds and experiences. Some are currently juggling motherhood and writing; others raised children in an earlier era, and built writing careers despite the popular belief that they couldn't do both; some have set aside their aspirations to focus on family. There are teenage moms, middle-aged moms, lesbian moms, and adoptive moms. The editors have thoughtfully gathered and ordered their stories. With each one, this moving anthology opens up and out, managing to be philosophical, pragmatic, nurturing, and intensely personal.....
Many of the essays refer to what Janice Kulyk Keefer, in 'Motherlodes, Muses, Mapmakers,' describes as that 'clamped stated of mind,' which offers so little space for creativity. With motherhood, writing time shrivels, as do uninterrupted hours of contemplation.
This courageous and revealing book--prefaced by Marni Jackson, author of The Mother Zone, lays out that reality in ways as varied as its writers' voices. It belongs in every mother-writers' library, to be read not in one gulp, but piece by piece, as the situation demands--and, of course, as time permits."

Double Lives Goes Live

All moms have their conception stories.

So how did Double Lives come about?

Well, a couple of months after my daughter was born, I thirsted after writing that included us, that charted the experience of the writing mother/ mothering writer in language that was descriptive, not judgmental. Having come from a line of women whose creativity was either diverted or stifled by the demands of husbands and children and/or the simple facts of staying alive, I felt I was entering dangerous yet exciting territory. Would I, too, succumb to the stresses? Who could I journey with? Enter Fiona and Shannon, friends and writers who became mothers shortly before I did. We tossed around crazy ideas, like putting together an anthology of essays that addressed this experience. Like giddy primaparas in our first trimesters, little did we know how challenging and enlightening the process of bringing that book to life would eventually become.

And now here she is: Double Lives: Writers on Mothering, red and shiny as a fresh placenta. And like any collaborative project, she has an extensive community behind her: 25 brilliant contributors, an exacting and supportive publisher, numerous devoted editors and publicists, plus friends and family. Paralleling my journey into writing motherhood, these past three years have seen Double Lives take shape.

Oh, and yesterday I began a poem about my daughter.

Three and a half years after she was born, I still struggle to find words to describe her and the impact she has had on my life. It’s always been that way for me. Writing about what is closest, and especially what is dearest, challenges me in ways I only partly understand. Yet becoming a mother has changed my brain forever.

Check this blog for news and updates as Double Lives moves out into the world.

Enter the Double Lives Writing Contest!

In May 2008 McGill-Queen’s University Press will publish Double Lives: Writing and Motherhood, an anthology that brings together twenty-two writers who reveal their personal experiences of nurturing children while pursuing the passion to write. Anyone who has lived the life of an artist while raising a family is familiar with the unique challenges and rewards this lifestyle presents. We want to hear your stories. McGill-Queen’s is inviting all parents, mums and dads, who are also artists – writers, visual artists, performing artists – to submit a piece of creative writing, (500 words or less), about your personal experiences as artist / parent. How do you balance parenthood with your artistic practice? Did your work change after you became a parent? Any words of wisdom for other artist parents?

Please email your submission to publicist.mqup@mcgill.ca by 15 April 2008. Five winning entrants will receive a complimentary copy of Double Lives, and have their story posted on the McGill-Queen’s web site.

Welcome to the home of Double Lives: Writing and Motherhood

Double Lives is a compelling and exciting collection of twenty-five original personal essays about the challenges and synergies of pursuing the passion to write while having a family. From seasoned professionals to noteworthy new talents, the authors in this collection make a significant and illuminating contribution to our understanding of how writer and mother co-exist. Double Lives is available from your local bookstore and we encourage you to buy locally. Find a bookstore.

From the Book:

"Writing is a kind of ongoing conversation or quarrel with one's self. When children come into the picture, the voices multiply, overlap and become confused. What I discovered in my own new motherhood, and in the process of writing a book about it, was that the self is not a watertight vessel that sails you through the rough seas of family life. It is and has to be more permeable."

-- from the Introduction by Marni Jackson

"If you find yourself in the situation of recently having created life, it won't hurt to recognize the spiritual doors that have opened to you. And why should such an opening be free of pain? Even following the barn owl for a day makes the back ache and the knees stammer. The other name for such good work is joy."

-- from "Letters to a Young Mother Who Writes" by Rachel Rose

Book Launch Dates for Double Lives

Please celebrate with us in the following locations...

May 3—Toronto, 5pm, Another Story Books, 315 Roncesvalles Avenue

May 4—Kingston, 2pm, Novel Idea, 156 Princess Street

May 5—Montreal, 5pm, Paragraphe Books, 2220 McGill College Avenue

May 10—Vancouver, 7pm, Little Nest Café, 1716 Charles Street