Women Explore What It Means To Be a Mother in Online Writing Workshop

In a free online writing workshop called The Other Mother — For Moms Who Write, women explore their own choices about balancing work and family, the joys and struggles of motherhood, and feelings of guilt, resentment, and regret.

Gwendolen Gross, the organizer of this online writing workshop, said “I started the writing workshop to encourage women to think about the meaning of motherhood through writing, and to share their experiences in hopes of better understanding each other.” She continued, “The response has been impressive — thousands of people have visited the writing workshop website, and when women write, we open up about the struggles and joys of parenting.”

In one writing workshop topic, Ms. Gross asked moms to write about on mommy guilt, or the choice to work versus staying at home. But, not all topics are so serious. The most recent post was to: “write about a birth – yours, your child's, a puppy's, a star's.”

Asked about what motivated her to start a free writing workshop online, Ms. Gross answered that she was inspired by her experiences at a lunchtime writing practice group in San Diego, led by Judy Reeves (A Writer’s Book of Days) and by the approach of Natalie Goldberg (Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind).

Ms. Gross explained, “The writing workshop I went to in San Diego wasn’t free, but it cost only five dollars to come write to a topic during lunch break. I think I wrote about a thousand poems in the first few months attending the group. After finding such generous guidance years ago, I thought I’d give back as broadly as I can for a bit; I teach workshops in person as well.”

"I am inviting all moms who are interested to participate," said Ms. Gross. To join the workshop, visit The Other Mother ~ For Moms Who Write.

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Gwendolen Gross is the author of the novels Field Guide, Getting Out, and most recently, The Other Mother. In addition to her novels, Ms. Gross has published poems and stories in dozens of literary magazines, as well as essays in collections including It's A Boy: Women Writers on Raising Sons and It's A Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters.