A Question of Balance: Artists and Writers on Motherhood

Twenty-five artists and authors describe the nurturing relationship between motherhood and their work

"When I had my daughter, I learned what the sound of one hand clapping is?it's a woman holding an infant in one arm and a pen in the other," says poet and novelist Kate Braverman, who, along with 24 others, describes the often arduous path a woman must travel to combine motherhood with a career as a writer or artist. Certainly she must have the drive and self-discipline to do her work despite the demands of home and family; being organized helps, too, as does having a partner who is emotionally and?just as important, as interviewees stress?financially supportive. Linda Vallejo, who movingly describes how she is fulfilled artistically, spiritually and emotionally as an artist and mother, is also resolutely pragmatic, with a hired housekeeper and a strict work schedule. On the other hand, writer Perri Klass shares caring for the children with her writer husband and describes the couple's laissez-faire system of housework as "both of us do as little as possible.... Which means that we live in a fairly chaotic and messy house." Rosenberg's interviewees, who include such notables as Rita Dove, Ursula LeGuin, Mary Morris, Rosellen Brown and Trina Schart Hyman, offer a wealth of insights into the creative life and motherhood, as well as no-nonsense advice to women seeking to combine the two.
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