Her/their Mighty Pen: Life writing from women’s prisons is out now with Unbarred Press.
HMP is a powerful collection of memoir, poetry, letters, short stories and essays written by women and non-binary people in prison.
Across its pages, the writers traverse love and grief, rage and relief, reflection and resistance. Their meditations on childhood, ancestors, care, identity, mental health and prison life map what it means to be fully, irreducibly human. They share with us the moments that sustain them and reckon with the systems that constrain them. Singular in voice, collective in power, these are works that refuse to be silenced.
Published on 3rd September by Unbarred Press - with a foreword by award-winning broadcaster and writer Scout Tzofiya Bolton - Her/their Mighty Pen has been called 'relentlessly honest and courageously open-hearted' (Claire Ratinon), 'beautifully honest, painful, funny and moving' (Andy West), 'a remarkable act of collective testimony and artistic resistance' (Yvonne Jewkes) and 'one of the most extraordinary and essential collections of life writing I've read' (Max Porter). The collected is edited by Bel Sherlock, founder of Her Mighty Pen.
Her/their Mighty Pen is available to buy online at Waterstones, Foyles, Browns and Amazon.
All royalties are shared between:
Women in Prison, supporting women affected by the criminal justice system and campaign to end the harm it causes
Unbarrred Press, committed to publishing literature by imprisoned writers.
This publication is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and by generous individuals donors.
Launching Her/their Mighty Pen
Thank you to all those that joined our public book launches!
Across the online and in person launches we welcomed Anna Motz, Dr. Breea C. Willingham, Ashleigh Nugent, Ella Simpson, Sonya Ruparel (CEO of Women in Prison), Kay King (from Women in Prison) and Fionn Gordon (from One Small Thing) to offer context of where HMP lands in the wider field.
We were also honoured by the presence of three of the book’s contributing authors - Runa Rhites, Jasmine Elizabeth and Melissa Spring - who read some of their pieces and gave a Q&A, alongside readings of pieces chosen especially by Aria Storm, Lily Ingram, Dice Meridian and Cat’s Delight, who couldn’t be with us.
If you couldn’t join us, do have a listen to our online book launch.
We will be going into the three participating prisons to launch the book over the next few months, so watch this space!
Tell the authors what you think!
Imprisoned authors rarely get to connect with their readership and hear directly from their readers. Let’s change this!
If a particular piece or author’s work moved you, you can send them a message here, and it will be passed onto them.