The Women of Words Project was created in 2016 as a response to the alarming death toll of women and children by the hands of their loved ones. The initial project sought submissions from women to share their voices and shine the light on domestic and family violence through a collaborative chapbook of poetry. In 2016 Papatuanuku Press published Women of Words - Eat, Stray'd, Love. In 2020 Women of Words: 2016-2018 (First Edition) was published and featured all of the phenomenal women that contributed to the project during this period. The poems collected in this volume are responses to the project between 2019-2021.

The Women of Words Project hosts an annual event on the last Sunday in November and the funds raised through this project are donated to local women's refuges. Domestic and Family Violence is an ever-growing monster and the charitable organisations that try to support women and children escaping domestic violence are so grossly underfunded. It is important that we as a community come together to support the organisations that support our vulnerable community. This publication has been funded by The Social Inclusion Grant from The Newcastle City Council and The Gender Research Network of The Newcastle University. Here at Papatuanuku Press our commitment is to continue to support the women and children in our community that are escaping domestic violence by supporting the organisations that provide the crucial services needed for women and children to live in our community safely.