In an intimate and unflinching collection, A J Akoto tracks the complex bind of mother-daughter relationships. Through separation and attempts to mend, longing, and the fluidity of myth/story-telling in defining histories and identities, she collapses the elision between womanhood and motherhood/daughterhood, bringing to the forefront that which usually remains unspoken.

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Unmothered is a collection that unravels the complexities of the mother daughter relationship for deep inspection. AJ Akoto illuminates the unwritten, and observes the nuances of womanhood with deft skill. This is a startling debut collection and a writer to watch.
Selina Nwulu
Every word in this stunning debut collection deserves its place on the page. Akoto skilfully stitches fragments of love, along with forgiveness, compassion, and insight, into the fabric of her life. By doing so, she shines a light into the dark places many of us are afraid to peer into - the cracks, or in some cases large chasms - that can exist in the relationship between mother and daughter.Unmotheredis poetry at its finest - pure, honest, brave, and touching.
Louisa Adjoa Parker

I have never felt so compelled to read the next page in a book. Unmothered is a journey you want to go on. Motherhood never looked like this before. This is poetry at its most gut wrenching and vulnerable. Absolutely stunning.
Afrori Books

puts readers right at the heart of the friction between mother and daughter.
Emma Lee read the full review

a book of deep feeling ‒ poetry that demands to be thought about, and read aloud. It is resonant, deep-voiced with pauses: poems that question, echo back; theatrically haunting and laced with reverberations that linger.
Katherine Gallagher on Everybody's Reviewing read the full review

Poetry 13th July 2023

978-1-913665-80-7 print £9.99

978-1-913665-81-4 eBook £4.00

129x198mm 72pp