Three poets from western MA will look at how contemporary women poets use a variety of approaches to navigate the territory of "mother-poet." These poets and their poems fall all along the aesthetic continuum, and their work takes different approaches to the “condition” of motherhood. Using their own experience, as well as examples from other poets, they’ll talk about the struggle to find time and focus for their writing; the challenges of writing and parenting in a rural area; how motherhood is or isn’t present in their own work; the issue of including their children in published work; and whether the awareness of writing about motherhood has constrained or freed them in any way. They’ll also look at the distinction between motherhood as subject, and the impact of motherhood on creative process and formal strategies. The discussion will include poems as handouts for audience members and time for audience questions.