|  | A New Red a fairy tale
for grown-ups (poems, 2010, Pecan Grove Press) $15 Pre-order Now | Praise for A New Red Not since Edward Dorn’s Gunslinger have I found a poetic persona
with this range, depth, insight and humor. Lana Hechtman Ayers’ A New Red: a fairy tale for grown-ups reminds me of Leonard Cohen’s songs: while they are often narrative, or conversational, they never lose their essential relationship with melody. These very human poems are built of angelic music, and ask serious questions of the world.
––James Bertolino, author of
Finding Water, Holding Stone
Lana Hechtman Ayers’ sharp, vivid poems in A New Red allow a modern Red Riding Hood, an artistic wolf, and characters like Baba Yaga to spring to life. In one of the opening poems of the book, “Baba Yaga Advises Red Riding Hood,” Baba Yaga warns: “Never say yes/ when you mean no,/ and mean no/ all of the time.” A meditation on the choices a woman makes in her life, in her relationships, and in her art, this book maps the journey through the trials, wonders, and frustrations of a love affair.
—Jeannine Hall Gailey, author of
Becoming the Villainess | |  | Dance From Inside My Bones (poems, 2007,
Snake Nation Press) $12 | Nominated for
the National Book Award Praise for Dance From Inside My Bones
by Lana Hechtman Ayers
“A book of stunning poems…Warm and witty, revelatory and mysterious, it's a book of charm and talent—readable and rereadable page after page.”
—F. D. Reeve
“…an achingly honest book. These poems are vibrant, bold, courageous, open-hearted and direct.” —Irene Willis | |  | Love is a Weed (chapbook, 2006, Finishing Line Press) $10 | Praise for Love is a Weed by Lana Hechtman Ayers
“I can think only of a very few poets who are able to bring life on a page with a sensibility that is both explosive and insightful, erotic and, yes, laugh-out-loud funny, in the way Lana Hechtman Ayers’s poems are in Love is a Weed.” —Ilya Kaminsky “Love in these sensuous poems is both heady and difficult. What I love most: the humor, the passion, the seriousness beneath—and the glow of the poet's incandescent heart.” —Patricia Fargnoli
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| |  | WHAT BIG TEETH Red Riding Hood's Real Life (poems, 2010, Kissena Park Press) $10 Order Now | | Praise for What Big Teeth As you venture deep into the shadowy forest, whom do you find more alluring: the strapping, protective Huntsman...or the coiled and hungry passion of the artful Wolf? In What Big Teeth, celebrated poet Lana Hechtman Ayers reveals the true-life story of Red Riding Hood, recounting with tenderness—and a new erotic candor—both the anguish and hidden pleasures of straying from the well-worn path. Epic in scope but delivered with striking intimacy, the poems move us from the innocence of girlhood through the pulchritude of adolescence, the mendacities of marriage, and the transgression of infidelity. With whom will Red tango in the dark of the woods: the Huntsman or the Wolf? The answer is transcendent. What Big Teeth serves as a powerful prelude to Lana’s forthcoming full-length collection, A New Red. —Jeff Gomez, CEO Starlight Runner Entertainment
What Big Teeth by Lana Hechtman Ayers is an insightful review of woman’s place in the world. While it presents us with a humorous approach to many of the problems faced by modern woman, the book is a serious look at what many women are subject to put up with. The humor may appear to be lighthearted but the meanings of the poems can be devastating. This book claims for modern woman in the persona of Red Riding Hood her rightful place and stature in society. A worthwhile book for the contemporary poetry lover. —Ottone M. Riccio, Author of The Intimate Art of Writing Poetry and Unlocking the Poem | |  | Chicken Farmer
I Still Love You (poems, 2007, D-N Publishing) $14 Buy from Amazon.com | Winner of D-N Publishing National Manuscript Award Praise for Chicken Farmer I Still Love You
by Lana Hechtman Ayers
“Lana Hechtman Ayers challenges her readers on many levels, starting with the command to 'dare your heart into words.' This poet finds texts everywhere, from graffiti on a granite boulder to a diner’s menu. Ayers’ book, Chicken Farmer I Still Love You, is honest and fearless and offers us delicious servings of an ignored America.”
—Rane Arroyo
“Some poems in this notable new collection by Lana Hechtman Ayers engage their smart-alecky, fast-talking characters with energy and spirit, taking on the Hollywood myths, from Bogart to Bugs Bunny, by which Americans live their lives. In this hard-edged ethos, the poet realizes, we may root for the charming, heartless, take-all winners, until we discover that we may be among the vast legion of losers. Some poems here are forays into pure craft—a 'Sestina' that expansively glosses Elizabeth Bishop's of the same name and employs some of the same end words. Like life itself, the comic and serious unfolding of Chicken Farmer I Still Love You reflects a delightfully spirited work.”
—Carolyne Wright | |
Read the Bookmonger's Review of Chicken Farmer | To order by mail: Send a check in the proper amount payable to Lana Hechtman Ayers
(in US$ only) to: Lana Hechtman Ayers PO Box 1808 Kingston, WA 98346 |
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