Author: Sherisa de Groot

Ten Questions for Cinelle Barnes

RAISING MOTHERS: What inspired you to tell this story? CINELLE BARNES: My debut memoir came about while I was in the throes of postpartum depression and needing a repository for all the memories that started to well up when my daughter was born. I was in individual and group therapy, and in both, writing was recommended as a healing practice. I first tried writing for and to myself, with no intention of making the work public, let alone profitable. I began by writing on index cards every time I sat down to nurse my baby…a word, a line, a paragraph at a time… and by the time she was walking, I had three shoeboxes full of these index cards–what would become the synopsis and annotated table of contents for Monsoon Mansion. RAISING MOTHERS: What did you edit out of this book?` CINELLE BARNES: After I signed with an agent, it took me another year or so to complete the manuscript. When the first round was done, my agent believed …

The Mamas | Ten Questions for Helena Andrews

By Sherisa de Groot

RAISING MOTHERS: What inspired you to tell this story? HELENA ANDREWS: “The Mamas” was born out of hilarity, frustration, and new mom exhaustion. When I had my first daughter in 2017 then joined the prison gang otherwise known as my neighborhood mom group, I could not get over how ridiculous and white everything was. Baby yoga? Music class for seven-week-olds? WTF and also sign me up. Since writing is the only way I know how to process things, including my personal struggle with this all consuming new identity, I began writing notes to myself about the entire experience of being an extra Black mom in gentrified spaces. I knew other women were having the same double-take moments but I’d never read anything about it, so I wrote it. RAISING MOTHERS: What did you edit out of this book? HELENA ANDREWS: Honestly? Not much. I’ve written four books now, including two of my own memoirs, and my literary motto is “leave it all on the page.” But because …

Work With Raising Mothers!

By Sherisa de Groot

Calling all readers, writers, artists, and literary enthusiasts: WE’RE HIRING! Raising Mothers is currently looking to add some dynamic new members to our team! If you or someone you know is Black, Latine(x), Asian, Indigenous and/or a person of color that is also disabled, LGBTQIA2S+ and you are passionate about sharing parenting stories of the global majority, APPLY TODAY. Send samples/portfolio link, resume and cover letter letting us know how you’d contribute to Raising Mothers. email us at: HELLO (AT) RAISINGMOTHERS (DOT) COM Note: this is VOLUNTARY. We all work incredibly hard to produce this amazing work. We are also completely remote. EIC lives in Europe and most everyone else is stateside. Artists Create visuals for each published quarterly issue and/or dedicated illustrations for columns. This is open to various styles of artists as we are looking to have a roster, instead of one exclusive artist. Comics Editor Pitch, solicit and edit comics either in column format or for our issues. Ideally has prior experience. Has a good comic/graphic narrative network of artists of color. Would …

2021 Best of the Net nominations!

By Sherisa de Groot

After 6 years it’s our first time entering competitions and I wish the best for each nominee. It feels exceptional because how many literary spaces focus only on Black and brown parent writers talking about that subject? I hope they all place and it was extremely difficult to choose coming off this past year. It was incredibly difficult to choose—but we’re pleased to finally announce our nominees for Best of the Net 2021! Poetry Akua Lezli Hope, “They Are Swimmers“ Anna Limontas-Salisbury, “Some Mothers III“ Janel Cloyd, “In the Land of Milk and Honey We Are Lactose Intolerant and the Bees Are Dying“ JP Howard, “Lullabies for Black Boys“ LaToya Tee Bellamy-Hunter, “She Know (Free Verse)“ Lee Scottlorde, “Softness is your birthright“ Fiction Najah Farley, “We Call Them Destiny: A Birth Story“ Oreoluwa Oladimeji, “The Test of Womanhood“ Nonfiction Tonya Abari, “Backscatter“ Son Trà Nguyen, “The Other Side of Town“ Help us congratulate them all!

Meet Julia Mallory, Senior Poetry Editor

By Sherisa de Groot

Meet our Senior Poetry Editor, Julia Mallory (she/her). We asked her to share a bit more about herself in a new series we’re running for our editors. Here are Julia’s 10 questions. What are your writing rituals? Generally, I start writing only under the influence of inspiration which means that I have to get started as soon as possible to capture the wave of words while they are still fresh. This could also mean that if I interrupt the flow with any additives, I might miss some of the message as it’s coming to me or even dull the feeling that it’s traveling through. But, when it’s time to build the writing beyond the initial inspiration or revise the writing, particularly if it feels stuck or slow to come, I might light a candle and/or incense to clear my space and invite clarity or insight. I might also create a soundtrack from existing music to support the world I am building with my words. And if I am really, really stuck? I do something else. I …