{"id":5287,"date":"2025-07-31T07:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T07:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/?page_id=5287"},"modified":"2025-09-25T20:28:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T20:28:54","slug":"femistry","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/?page_id=5287","title":{"rendered":"FEMISTRY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Pamela Hughes\u2019s second collection of poems, Femistry<\/em>, is a chemical marriage of reactions and actions that honor the everyday and sacred lives of women, while simultaneously advocating for the redemption of the disrespected female body.\u00a0 These women-centric power poems are a kind of palimpsest rearing up and writing over the rutted, often deadly, narrative pathways of patriarchy. The pages pull us into lyric and narrative explorations that draw on mythological, historical and literary figures, such as Persephone, Athena, Hatshepsut, Wangar\u0129 Matthai,<\/strong> Emily Dickinson, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein and The Fearless Girl<\/em>.<\/em> Hughes\u2019s poems are irreverent, sometimes funny and often fiery. She takes aim and lets her weapon of words fly to strike toxic masculinity, misogyny, domestic<\/strong> abuse and rape culture. Here, \u201csoftness is another kind of weapon.\u201d She juxtaposes war and its vast sprawl of desolation\u2014\u201ca Thracian army of thousands,\u201d \u201cor a long line of a Roman legion pushing back horizons\u201d and the diminutive\u2014the regenerative power of the supple:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ,<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 small<\/span><\/strong>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0things<\/span><\/strong>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0mean<\/span><\/strong>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0more<\/span><\/strong>
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ,<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

The feminist narrative builds with each of her serious or seriously playful speakers\u2014her bold array of women and girls at play, pray, prey, and protest\u2014of women in nature that set a path towards awareness. <\/strong>Femistry<\/strong><\/em> is a startling collection that invites you to be part of the chemical reaction of “the jouled-room \/ the jeweled womb \/ the ways in which her properties interact, combine and change\u2014<\/strong><\/strong>a vibration of substances \/<\/strong><\/em> breaking their bonds, with an exchange of atoms \/ solution concentration\u2014\/and the use of these processes \/ to form \/ new worlds.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More<\/strong> Praise for Femistry:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to speak against centuries of erasure of women? Femistry<\/em> by Pamela Hughes unbolts that heavy door: the \u201cstory begins with the skin.\u201d She speaks with a bold voice: saying it, then saying it again, but louder. These poems embody relentless praise for women, something rarely seen, but desperately needed. These are love poems to \u201canyone brutalized \u201cstabbed by \/ patriarchy\u2019s nine arrows.\u201d In the storms of this life, Hughes knows the roadblocks, the devastation, \u201call the landlocked things.\u201d Still, she evokes compassion with an unyielding intensity: \u201cLook toward the inventory of light\u2026Yet, fragments of light compose the constellations.\u201d\u2014 Jan Beatty, Dragstripping<\/em>, University of Pittsburgh Press<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Femistry<\/em>, \u201ceach word a seed \/ a root-shaped rhizome\u201d grows into a fierce and daring manifesto against the acts of violence inflicted on women throughout history. Hughes crafts these brilliantly visual poems with the precision of an alchemist. The lush \u201cfleshy language\u201d and imagery drawn from sciences and mythology add to the multi-dimensional exploration of womanhood in this timely, remarkable collection.\u2014Edytta Wojnar, Dandelions in Third Space<\/em>, SFAS University Press <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ISBN: 978-0-9983406-9-2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trade Paperback: size 6 x 9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price: $18.00<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publication Date: September 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BUY HERE FROM AMAZON<\/strong>: https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0998340693<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Femistry<\/strong> <\/em>is Pamela<\/strong> Hughes’s 2nd collection of poems. Her first, Meadowland Take My Hand<\/em>, was published in 2017 by Three Mile Harbor Press. Her poetry and prose have appeared in: Prairie Schooner<\/em>; New Feather Anthology; Canary; Literary Mama; PANK Magazine; The Paterson Literary Review; Thema<\/em>; The Red Wheelbarrow <\/em>and elsewhere. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College, teaches creative writing classes at Bloomfield College at Montclair State University and is the editor of the online literary magazine, Narrative Northeast. Please visit her at www.narrativenortheast.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/b>Pamela and T<\/em>he Fearless Girl<\/em> statue, Broadway, New York, photo by Trinity Hughes-Arciuch\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/strong>
<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pamela Hughes\u2019s second collection of poems, Femistry, is a chemical marriage of reactions and actions that honor the everyday and sacred lives of women, while simultaneously advocating for the redemption of the disrespected female body.\u00a0 These women-centric power poems are a kind of palimpsest rearing up and writing over the rutted, often deadly, narrative pathways …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5287","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5287"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5516,"href":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5287\/revisions\/5516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3mileharborpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}