[Commlist] Call for Papers: Representing Maternal Regret

*Representing Maternal Regret*
Maynooth University, Ireland
10th and 11th September 2026

More than ten years have passed since Orna Donath’s article “Regretting 
Motherhood: A Sociopolitical Analysis” made waves in academic circles 
and among the broader public. Though previous research had highlighted 
mothers’ ambivalent feelings about the experience and institution of 
motherhood, Donath was the first to offer evidence that, contrary to 
social and cultural expectations, there are women who regret the 
decision to have children. Donath’s intervention led to several 
follow-up studies in other countries as well as provoking debate in 
mainstream and social media. Ten years on, it seems timely to take stock 
of how research and broader conversations have developed in the decade 
since her controversial ideas were first published.

Notably, Donath’s ideas have also inspired a number of artistic and 
creative responses, including literary texts, photographic projects, 
autobiographical reflections, and performances that engage with maternal 
regret. It is the value and contribution of these cultural interventions 
that will be the focus of this conference. Key questions we ask include: 
How have cultural representations of regret taken the discussion in new 
directions? Within shifting cultural and media landscapes, what new 
modes for narrating and depicting regret have emerged? To what extent 
are cultural explorations of regret inflected by emerging political, 
cultural, and environmental crises? And what different ways of living 
with and responding to regret emerge through art and creative work?

We hope to find shared areas of interest across and between disciplines. 
We particularly encourage papers that consider the following questions:

  *
    What are the affordances and limitations of different creative forms
    for challenging existing narratives, empowering parents, and raising
    awareness of the complexities of parenting in the contemporary era?
  *
    What role do the creative arts play in expanding discursive
    parameters and challenging norms and myths?
  *
    How might narrative or creative interventions be used to support
    parents who experience regret or to raise awareness about overlooked
    emotional possibilities?
  *
    How can academics and creative practitioners work together to
    generate new spaces for discussion about regret, ambivalence, and/or
    negative feelings about mothering and parenting?


We also invite contributions that explore the gendered dimensions of 
parental regret. This may include but is not limited to research on 
paternal regret, as well as reflections on the gendered and 
intersectional dimensions of parenting experiences and emotions. 
Ultimately, we ask how cultural representations deepen our understanding 
of the individual and sociopolitical dimensions of regret and drive the 
debate forward.

Keynote speakers:

• Franziska Burkhardt 
<https://www.instagram.com/frances_buka/> (Performance artist and 
photographer, Weimar)
• Milou Gevers <https://vimeo.com/915928267>* (Director and filmmaker, 
Amsterdam, *Password: Spijtmoeders240223)
• Diana Karklin 
<https://www.instagram.com/diana_karklin_/> (Photographer and visual 
artist, Madrid)

We are currently seeking abstracts for a conference that will take place 
at Maynooth University, Ireland, on 10th and 11th September 2026. We 
welcome contributions in areas such as: Literature, Media, Culture, 
History, Politics, Film, Visual Arts, Anthropology, Creative Practice, 
and Policy. We invite individual proposals of 350 words along with the 
paper’s title and a 50-word biography. In addition, we encourage 
pre-constituted panels of 3-4 papers to submit proposals that contain a 
150-word panel overview and 350-word abstracts for each paper. Please 
submit proposals in one PDF document to the conference organisers with 
the heading ‘Representing Regret conference’ by *30th June 2026*.

Conference organisers:

  *
    Prof. Valerie Heffernan (School of Modern Languages, Literatures and
    Cultures, Maynooth University, Co. Kildare, Ireland):
    (valerie.heffernan /at/ mu.ie)
  *
    Dr Katherine Stone (School of Modern Languages and Cultures,
    University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom):
    (K.Stone /at/ warwick.ac.uk)


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