“I'm still trying to make sense of a culture of caregiving that ‘good mothers’ are good caregivers…A ‘good mother’ is someone who doesn't question or resist caregiving, whereas men are never socialized into that narrative.”Namrata Poddar
Namrata Poddar writes fiction and non-fiction, is an editor for Kweli journal and teaches literature and writing at UCLA. Her work has appeared in several publications including Poets & Writers, Literary Hub, Longreads, The Kenyon Review, and The Best Asian Short Stories. Her debut novel, Border Less, was a finalist for Feminist Press’s Louise Meriwether Prize, and is longlisted for The Center of Fiction First Novel Prize.
Namrata joined Kaitlin in this episode to talk about:
- Her book, Border Less - a novel about the migratory journal of Dia Mittal,an airline call center agent in Mumbai who is searching for a better life.
- Becoming a Mother-Writer: Notes on Reconciling the Personal, the Professional, and the Political - an essay she wrote for Poets & Writers.
- How she experiences her mothering identity as a feminist living in a patriarchal society.
More about Namrata Poddar:
Website:http://www.namratapoddar.com/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/writerpoddar/
Related Resources:
- Find out more about Border Less -https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9781736176788
- Namrata’s essay, Becoming a Mother-Writer | Poets & Writers: https://www.pw.org/content/becoming_a_motherwriter_notes_on_reconciling_the_personal_the_professional_and_the_political
- Camille T. Dungy’s 2017 nonfiction book, Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys Into Race, Motherhood, and History - https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9780393356083
- Angela Garbes new book, Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change - https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9780062937360
- Sylvia Federici, Revolution at Point Zero: https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9781629637976
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