My essay ‘Mothers, Monsters, and My Year of Prying’ was recently named a finalist in the 2023 CRAFT Hybrid Writing Contest.
I’m really proud of this achievement. CRAFT is a highly regarded American literary magazine, and to have work recognised by them is deeply encouraging. It is also affirming to see this essay recognised in particular, given it has been rejected a couple of times from other contests! I’ve always believed the essay had merits, which means I’ve been aiming high when sending it out – and of course, this approach has resulted primarily in rejection emails. So: a big thank you to CRAFT for the encouraging news. Hopefully I can find a print home for the essay soon.
As for the essay itself, it is a nonfiction/memoir piece about maternal ambivalence and creativity. I wrote it in part to explore my own feelings on these topics, as well as to investiagte existing writing and perspectives on how having children can intersect with creative work and (as I term it in the essay) the “painful, humbling project of fulfilling one’s intellectual or artistic potential, however limited.”
Perhaps the essay will find a home in print one day! I’ll keep sending it out. In the meantime, enjoy this sweet photograph (above!) of my own lovely mother and I in 2017.
Have a good August,
Rosalind
