Hey MAMArtist* MINNA DUBIN!
What are the ages of your child(ren), and where do you live?
My kids are 10 and 6, Berkeley, CA.
How do you describe your art practice?
Roller-coaster-y. I work in waves -- I either have the muse or I don't. And when I do, it's the most amazing feeling to have the words just rush out of my fingers. And when I don't, I am kind of sad with myself and grumpy. Oh maybe you mean, what is my art? I'm a writer--mostly memoir, some journalism, some poetry, some fiction. I write a lot with other writer friends, either at cafes or on Zoom. I will make up any excuse not to write, so other people help me to stay accountable to getting my butt in the chair.
Who is your artistic crush?
Dorothy Allison, her work transports and heals me.
What is a superpower Mother+Artists have?
For me, parenting and work feed and enhance each other. I have never-ending inspiration for my work from my family and the trials and joys of mothering. And my writing gives me a safe place to work through so much of what I'm feeling and experiencing in my mothering life. It's a symbiotic feedback loop.
You have something exciting coming up! PLEASE SAY MORE ABOUT IT!
My first book Mom Rage: The Everyday Crisis of Modern Motherhood comes out on September 19th. I've been working on it ever since my New York Times articles on mom rage went viral in 2020. I interviewed 50 mothers from across the country and around the world, and I also tell my own story of anger in motherhood. It's really the first comprehensive book on the what, why, and how of mom rage. I did so much research, but it's based in story, which felt important to me because I'm a memoirist--a storyteller, really--not an academic. I'm hopeful it will provide moms (and the people who love them) with relief and some ways forward.
How did motherhood directly, indirectly, oppositionally or integrally influence this project?
Hah! I wouldn't have had these experiences if it weren't for motherhood! Becoming a mother to my son just blew the roof off of me. I was so spun trying to figure out how to give myself what I needed while also trying very hard to be a "good mother." And those two things are in opposition in our society. A "good mother," according to current ideas about mothering, is one who basically has no needs and so she disappears herself. This book is kind of the culmination of a decade of examining the culture of motherhood in America and thinking deeply about my mothering experience.
What are you currently reading or listening to that is giving you thoughts, feelings and reactions?
I've been listening to the Serial Podcast's show The Retrievals, about a fertility clinic at Yale. Even though I only had one miscarriage, and was able to conceive pretty easily, I am very interested in infertility as a feminist frontier. I think birthing people's right to access free and safe fertility treatment should be part of the bodily autonomy fight, right next to abortion and gender-affirming medical care and treatments.
Any message for Mother+Artists reading this?
This book came from an essay that came from a list that was part of a funky public art project I did for 3 years. I wrote lists about motherhood and turned them into art pieces, then hung them up in public places. I did it because it was a way to write but in early motherhood I needed to make something with my hands. My advice to do whatever artistic acts you can manage that bring you joy, even if they are weird and quirky and quick. Everything can be artistic practice. And we never know where it will lead.
BEST LINKS to find you and your work!
Preorder Link for Mom Rage!
Mom Rage Book Tour Dates!
All my published writing including the NYT Mom Rage pieces
Check out the 150 lists from #MomLists
*Each month The MAMAs features a Mother+Artist and their work in the world. Thank you Melissa!
