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MOTHER!

$19.95

MOTHER! by Summer Stewart is a genre-defying collection of poetry and essays that interrogates what it means to be made—and remade—as a woman. Moving through girlhood, the body, labor, relationships, and motherhood, the book dismantles the idea that identity is self-determined, revealing instead how it is shaped through expectation, silence, and survival.

Blending intimate narrative with sharp cultural analysis, Stewart explores pregnancy, loss, sexuality, and care as lived realities rather than abstract concepts. Her work exposes the invisible systems women sustain—within families, partnerships, and institutions—while examining the psychological and physical costs of carrying what is never fully named.

At once deeply personal and structurally aware, MOTHER! reframes motherhood not as a role, but as a condition that illuminates broader truths about autonomy, power, and inheritance. In doing so, Stewart offers not resolution, but recognition and a path toward self-definition that does not rely on disappearance.

MOTHER! by Summer Stewart is a genre-defying collection of poetry and essays that interrogates what it means to be made—and remade—as a woman. Moving through girlhood, the body, labor, relationships, and motherhood, the book dismantles the idea that identity is self-determined, revealing instead how it is shaped through expectation, silence, and survival.

Blending intimate narrative with sharp cultural analysis, Stewart explores pregnancy, loss, sexuality, and care as lived realities rather than abstract concepts. Her work exposes the invisible systems women sustain—within families, partnerships, and institutions—while examining the psychological and physical costs of carrying what is never fully named.

At once deeply personal and structurally aware, MOTHER! reframes motherhood not as a role, but as a condition that illuminates broader truths about autonomy, power, and inheritance. In doing so, Stewart offers not resolution, but recognition and a path toward self-definition that does not rely on disappearance.

Praise for MOTHER!

At its heart, MOTHER! is less about offering neat conclusions and more about mapping the complexities of becoming and unbecoming as a woman, a mother, and an individual. Stewart’s candid, lyrical writing ensures that every reader—whether a parent or not—can find resonance in its exploration of resilience and self-reclamation. It is both intimate and universal, a testament to the power of women telling their own stories.

Laney Wise

 

About SUMMER STEWART

Summer Stewart is an award-winning journalist, poet, nonfiction author, and author mentor dedicated to helping writers produce their best work. As the publisher and managing editor of Unsolicited Press, a small press in the Pacific Northwest, she has guided authors across genres since 2012, specializing in developmental, line, and copy editing. Summer also runs a Substack newsletter, If You Give a Girl a Book, where she shares insights, advice, and reflections on writing and publishing. A multidisciplinary creative, she is passionate about painting, backpacking, beer brewing, gardening, breadmaking, bookbinding, and graphic design. Summer holds a B.A.S. in English & Nutritional Biochemistry as well as an MFA in Poetry and Creative Writing from Portland State University. When not immersed in the literary world, she enjoys homeschooling, savoring black coffee, and indulging her Legend of Zelda fandom.

 

Playlist for MOTHER!

 

  • Genre: Poetry+Essays

    ISBN: 978-1-963115-43-7

    Publication Date: May 8, 2026