Mother’s Day has come and gone in the U.S., but maybe you’ve still got mothers on the brain. If that’s the case, The Rumpus has you covered with this extensive list of books to read “when you want to rethink motherhood.” The list ranges from Adrienne Rich’s classic nonfiction work, Of Woman Born, to Ada Limón’s more recent poetry collection, The Carrying—and it includes our own Lydia Kiesling’s novel, The Golden State.
Rethinking Motherhood
On Democracy, Writing, Faith
Last month, while traveling through Des Moines, Iowa, President Barack Obama had the chance to interview one of his favorite authors: Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson. The first part of the conversation was just published in the NYRB and the second part will appear in the next issue. Obama, who is a big fan of Robinson, had recently quoted her in his eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of nine victims in the shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Stuff of Fantasy
Attention financial journalists! If you haven’t done a lengthy study of wealth in Game of Thrones, consider yourself less cool than Slate’s own Matt Yglesias.
Natasha Trethewey Wraps Up Her Term as Poet Laureate
Robert Penn Warren was the subject of the lecture given by Natasha Trethewey last week. It was her final presentation as U.S. poet laureate, as her second term wraps up later this year.
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Kaitlyn Greenidge on Seeing Past the Dominant History
Kaitlyn Greenidge discusses her new novel, Libertie, and how she sought to tell stories from communities not commonly heard from in history books.
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Virginia Woolf on the Runway
From Ann Demeulemeester and Christopher Bailey to Rei Kawakubo, Virginia Woolf's Orlando has inspired many a fashion designer.
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Rejecting Tidy Narratives
For Lenny, Lidia Yuknavitch talks about suffering, art, and her path to writing. “I believe in art the way other people believe in God,” she says. For more of her writing, check out her Millions essay on grief that births art.
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