Journalism and Creative Nonfiction
“Do authors really put deeper meaning into stories and poems…” The Conversation: Curious Kids, February 2020
“Why do teachers make us read old stories?” The Conversation: Curious Kids, November 2019
“Why the ancient promise of alchemy is fulfilled in reading,” The Conversation, May 2019
“I Believe in Doubt,” essay solicited for Chaplaincy series, “This I Believe,” fall 2014
“Victorian Literature for Accounting Majors” (with Joe Ben Hoyle). The Chronicle of Higher Education June 26, 2013 (http://chronicle.com/article/Victorian-Literature-for/139971/)
“Shared Books, Shared Tables,” in The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage: True Tales of Food, Family & How We Learn to Eat. Ed. Caroline M. Grant and Lisa Catherine Harper. Roost Books 2013. 231-239.
“Why not the Fairest?” HuffPost 6/6/12. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elisabeth-gruner/once-upon-a-time_b_1557589.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false)
“Summer Reading: Suggestions for kids, teens, and other readers,” Richmond: The Alumni Magazine Summer 2011.
“I Am Not a Head on a Stick: On Being a Teacher and a Doctor and a Mommy,” Mama, PhD: Women write about motherhood and academic life, ed. Elrena Evans and Caroline Grant. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2008. 123-128.
Weekly blog post, “Mothering at Mid-Career,” Mama, PhD blog at Inside Higher Ed. First published May 2008.
Column, “Children’s Lit Book Group,” Literary Mama; November 2004-June 2009.
“Teaching and Tae Kwon Do,” Inside Higher Ed, March 21, 2008.
“Does Motherhood Make You Crazy? A Review of Inconsolable and Down Came the Rain.” Literary Mama , published Oct. 2005.
“From War to Revolution: A Review of The Truth Behind the Mommy Wars: Who Decides What Makes a Good Mother and Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety.” Literary Mama, published Oct. 2005.
“We Are Not Alone: Review of The Grand Permission: New Writings on Poetics and Motherhood,” ed. Patricia Dienstfrey and Brenda Hillman. Literary Mama, published May 2005.
“Should You Read Your Kid’s E-mail? No,” Brain Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers, 6:1 (Winter 2005), 19, 21.
“Masks, Chains, and Myths: Analyzing Motherhood,” a review of The Mommy Myth, The Price of Motherhood, and The Mask of Motherhood. LiteraryMama, August 2004.
A bimonthly column, “Midlife Mama,” in LiteraryMama. (November 2003-August 2004).
“The Third Snow Day,” in Three-Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work, and Family,, ed. Dawn Comer Jefferson and Rosanne Welch. Seal Press, 2004.
“How She Writes It: A Review of I Don’t Know How She Does It,” Literary Mama, March 2004.
“Mama Mentor,” A Cup of Comfort for Teachers, ed. Colleen Sell, Adams Media, 2004.
“Fix Me,” Toddler: Real-Life Stories of those Fickle, Urgent, Irrational, Tiny People We Love, ed. Jennifer Margulis, Seal Press, October 2003.
“Walking with the Women in Black,” Books and Babies: Writing about Motherhood Literary Web Zine, May 2003.
“The Bad Mother Did It: A Chat with Mystery Writer Ayelet Waldman,” Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers, 4:2 (Spring 2003), 14-15. Revised and republished as Mysteries and Mother-Daughter Stories in Literary Mama, December 2003.
“To sleep, perchance,” Books and Babies: Writing about Motherhood Literary Web Zine, March 2003.
“Love or hate this season, Mr. Dickens is the cause,” Fredericksburg Freelance Star, Sunday, December 22, 2002. (Syndicated in Knight-Ridder newspapers.)
“I (Don’t) Remember Mama,” Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers 3:1 (Spring 2002).
“Baby Talk,” Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers 2:2 (Summer 2001), 9-11.
“Telling Tales,” Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers 2:1 (Spring 2001), 10-11.
“The Wonder Years: Three Writers Talk about the Time that Leaves Most of Us Speechless,” Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers, 1:3 (Winter 2001), 62-65. (Reprinted in LiteraryMama, Nov. 2003.)
“‘Mom-Brain’ Explained,” Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers, 1:2 (Fall 2000), 8-9.