Events
Good Mother Myths, a talk and workshop as the Spring 2026 Visiting Scholar at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities at Rutgers-Camden
This spring, I’m thrilled to be the Visiting Scholar for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities at Rutgers-Camden. I’ll give a talk about research methods and finding women’s lives in the archives, then I’ll lead a workshop that invites participants to consider how to take up these methods for their own work.
If you’d like a little preview, the talk is linked to this piece about learning to read the archives sideways, which I wrote for Literary Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter.
Good Mothers and Baby Monkeys: The Surprising Origins of Attachment Theory, a talk for the Childhood Studies program at Stockton University
From psychology and social work to instagram and pop psychology, attachment theory has become a powerful way of understanding how people build and sustain relationships. Originally developed to explain what kind of care a baby needs from his mother, attachment theory makes a powerful promise: that a stable, uninterrupted attachment with a primary caregiver early in life will set a child on a path to secure, healthy relationships throughout his life. A closer look at the foundational research, however, uncovers a murkier story. This talk will unpack the foundational research at the origins of attachment theory and point the way toward more nuanced ways of understanding how babies and caregivers form connections.
We’ll be in the lower art gallery, and we’ll have refreshments. Please join us!
Be Less Careful: A Writing and Vision-Boarding Workshop in partnership with the Emet Room
Be Less Careful is a creative and collaborative workshop about being a little less scared—and a little more open. Through writing and vision boarding, we’ll make space for change, both big and small. This class is an invitation to loosen the rules, soften our grip on certainty, and let our freak flag fly (as I like to say.)
Includes light dinner, moderated conversation, all the vision boarding supplies you'll need, Nancy's expert guidance and writing prompts, lovely and warm environment ...the best part: sharing the experience with other curious and interested women 🤗.
Limited to 20 people | Cost: $200
Writing Past What You Know: Creative Strategies for Memoir
Writing Past What You Know: Creative Strategies in Memoir
We’re told to “write what you know”—but what happens when there are gaps in our memories, absences in family history or disagreements about what really happened? In this weeklong memoir workshop, we’ll practice writing what we don’t or can’t know. Experimenting with innovative methods for creative research will allow us to add details that enrich our memories, deepen scenes, expand our characterization and improve our imagery as we build an engrossing world for readers. We’ll also use what essayist Lisa Knott calls “perhapsing” to speculate about those parts of our histories that we can never truly know. We will leave this workshop with lots of new words and strategies to keep writing long after our time together. Open to beginning and experienced writers.
This workshop is at Murphy Writing’s Getaway to Write—Florida, at the beautiful Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, FL. Read more and register here.
Only two spots left!
book signing at the Mid-Atlantic Arts booth at AWP 2026
Swing by the Mid-Atlantic Arts booth to get a signed copy of The Good Mother Myth!
Be Less Careful X Book Drop MKE writers happy hour to kick off AWP 2026 in Baltimore
Join us for a happy hour to kick off AWP 2026! We’ll buy the apps, you bring your best book gossip and picks for panels and off-sites.
RSVP here by March 3rd so we know you’re coming!
Finding the Plot in Memoir: a writing workshop on zoom, via the Writers House at Rutgers-Camden
Whether it’s an essay or a book, a memoir project is built out of the stuff of your own life–but memoir still benefits from the engine of a plot to pull your reader through! In this workshop, we’ll try out several approaches to finding the plot in your own life. If you’ve got a great story to tell but you’re having trouble putting it all together, you’ll leave with a toolkit of strategies and approaches to build your project. Bring your messy draft or a collection of good ideas; we’ll work together to give it a shape.
Get all the info and sign up here.
Return to the Classics: paperback launch of Emily Van Duyne's Loving Sylvia Plath
Rescheduled from July!!
Join me as I’m in conversation with Emily Van Duyne for the paperback launch of her great book, Loving Sylvia Plath.
If you want a little preview, you can check out this interview we did for The Millions.
You can read more and reserve your tickets here.
Starting and Growing Your Newsletter: a masterclass
If you’ve thought about starting a newsletter and don’t know where to begin, this masterclass will get you started!
In this masterclass, offered online through Blue Stoop, I’ll share practical practical advice on starting and growing a newsletter that supports your broader goals as a writer. We’ll address developing your newsletter’s niche and style, creating a content calendar, and keeping up with your newsletter without letting it take over your writing life. The session will be interactive, with opportunities to try out key ideas. You’ll leave with clear takeaways and a plan for how to launch your own newsletter.
All registered students will receive 30 days of access to the recorded session.
You can get 10% off this class, or any other fall Blue Stoop class, with the code F25NANCY.
Register for the masterclass here, and you can find information about all of Blue Stoop’s great fall classes here.
Good Mother Myths at the Mental Health and Motherhood Summit
This virtual event is designed to connect mothers with mental health resources and offer a low-barrier approach that deeply values community and connection.
Join us October 10, 2025 for the Mental Health & Motherhood Summit if you:
want to hear from therapists, authors, mothers, and mental health advocates
are looking for more resources to add to your mental health toolbox
desire less hustle-culture and seek community
You can get your ticket for the summit here, and you can see the information about my talk here.
memoir panel with Tom McCallister and Peter Murphy at the Collingswood Book Festival
Join me, Tom McCallister, and Peter Murphy for a conversation about memoir at the Colllingswood Book Festival. We’ll be in Tent 1, on Haddon & Frazer Avenue, right by the library.
You can get all the information about the Book Festival here.
conversation with Allison Daminger at Princeton Public Library
Join me as I’m in conversation with Allison Daminger for the launch of her new book, What’s on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life.
If you want a little preview, you can check out her interview on my newsletter, Write More, Be Less Careful, or my interview with her for the Daminger Dispatch. (We’ve got a lot to talk about!)
The info about the event is on the Princeton Public Library site here.
author visit at Horsham Library
Join me for a talk and conversation at Horsham Library. We’re going to talk about where we got our ideas about how to be a good mom and how we can get better ones. Bring a friend!
You can get all the info from the Friends of the Horsham Library, and you can register here.
conversation with Mikah Goldman Berg, Rebecca Gale, and Andrea Kleinbard at Wonderland Books, Bethesda, MD
Join us for a conversation about The Good Mother Myth and the intersection of policy and maternal mental health. (In other words—wouldn’t motherhood be a lot easier if this country would help us out with paid leave and affordable childcare???)
Nancy will be joined by Mikah Goldman Berg of Postpartum Support International, Rebecca Gale of the Better Life Lab at New America and Andrea Kleinbard of the DC chapter of Chamber of Mothers.
The event listing at Wonderland Books is here.
Burlington County Book Festival
Join Nancy at the Burlington County Book Festival in Westampton, NJ.
Good Mother Myths, an AWP off-site at The Middle Room Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Sustainable Arts Foundation and the Middle Room Gallery are thrilled to present visual artists Dina Abdul Karim and Kaitlynn Redell together with writers Nydia Armendia-Sanchez and Julia Kolchinsky joining Nancy Reddy, author of the new book The Good Mother Myth, to speak about their creative practice, the intersection of motherhood and creativity, and the idea of “the good mother.”
This talk is part of The Middle Room’s Mythology/Matriarchy, a group exhibit of allegorical works centered on otherworldly and powerful female protagonists.
We’ll have a reception with drinks and snacks after the talk. RSVP here to grab your (free!) ticket.
conversation with Dr. Sarah Oreck at Godmothers, Summerland, CA
Join Nancy and Dr. Sarah Oreck for a conversation about community in motherhood and maternal mental health at Godmothers in Summerland, CA.
This is a ticketed event, and you can grab your ticket here.
conversation with Hannah Michell, Dr. Sarah Oreck, and Ruth Whippman at Zibby's Bookshop, Santa Monica, CA
Join Nancy and Hannah Michell, author of Excavations, Dr. Sarah Oreck, a reproductive psychiatrist and a founder of Mavida Health, and Ruth Whippman, author of BOYMOM, for a reading and conversation about motherhood across genres and disciplines.
RSVP here to get your (free!) ticket.
conversation with Jessica Calarco at the Wisconsin Book Festival, Madison
Join Nancy and Jessica Calarco, author of Holding it Together: How Women Became America’s Social Safety Net, for a conversation about mothering in America.
You’re invited to join us for a community reception beginning at 6pm featuring mocktail tastings, book browsing, and conversation.
Read more about the event, hosted by the Wisconsin Book Festival, here.
The Good Mother Myth book club, Milwaukee
Join us for a special book club conversation in Milwaukee!
Email Angela Voras-Hills at bookdropmke@gmail.com or fill out this google form to RSVP.
Learn to Pitch: Personal Essays, Book Reviews, and More at Arts + Literature Laboratory, Madison
Join Nancy for an in-person workshop at the Arts + Literature Laboratory in Madison.
Have you ever wondered how to break into the freelance market? Do you have a great idea for an essay, but don't know how to find the right publication and pitch the idea to editors?
This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to the essentials of pitching personal essays, service journalism, book reviews, interviews, and reported pieces. We’ll read examples of successful pitches and discuss strategies for finding editors and pitch guides. We’ll work together to start crafting your own pitch. You’ll leave the workshop with one pitch ready to go–and the resources and encouragement to pitch your good ideas out into the world.
Sign up by going to ALL’s website, clicking on enroll, then scrolling down just a bit until you see my workshop.
Book Drop MKE, Milwaukee
Join Nancy and a bunch of other great writers at this fun series. You can get all the info at the Book Drop MKE insta.
Stephen Dunn reading series at Stockton University
Nancy will be reading alongside Peter Murphy and Kimberly Grey in the Multicultural Center on Stockton’s campus as part of the Stephen Dunn reading series.
You can also join us via zoom at https://tinyurl.com/StephenDunnReadingSeries
reading with Heather Bowlan at Char & Stave, Ardmore, PA
Join Nancy and Heather for a reading and conversation. (And maybe have a coffee or a delicious cocktail—Char & Stave offers “coffee made by whiskey people” (!).)
zoom workshop on caregiving and creativity with Maggie Smith
Join Nancy and Maggie Smith, author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful and the forthcoming Dear Writer, for a zoom workshop and celebration.
This event is a thank you for pre-ordering The Good Mother Myth—to get your invite, pre-order the book, then enter your info at this link. (For extra fun, grab a copy for a friend, then bring them to the zoom party, too!)
Galentine's Book Party with Jo Piazza and Xio Axelrod at Inkwood Books, Haddonfield, NJ
Bring your Galentine and join Nancy, Jo Piazza, author of The Sicilian Inheritance, and Xio Axelrod, author of Girls With Bad Reputations, for a conversation about the lifesaving power of female friendship. Drinks, treats, raffles, and giveaways included!
reading and conversation with Clare Beams at White Whale Bookstore, Pittsburgh
Join Nancy and Clare Beams, author of The Garden, for a reading and conversation.
The Good Mother Myth launch party at the Small Works Gallery, Philadelphia
Join us for the launch party for The Good Mother Myth and the Good Mother Myths exhibit opening!
The easiest parking is on E Susquehanna St, just past the gallery on N Delaware.
Past Events
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