Journalism and Creative Nonfiction
“I No Longer Grade My Students’ Work–And I Wish I Had Stopped Sooner.” The Conversation: March 2022.
“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
“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.