A Hole in the Night
by Lana Hechtman Ayers
59 Poems ~ 79 pages
Price: $18.00
Publisher: Blue Light Press / 1st World Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4218-3611-9
To Order:
Lanaayers.com
Amazon.com
Bookshop.org
ABOUT THE BOOK:
A Hole in the Night, Lana Hechtman Ayers’ fifteenth collection, may well be her best. With a heavy focus on the art and mind of Vincent van Gogh, Ayers’ poems channel the artist himself: “For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”
ADVANCE PRAISE:
Early on in this beautiful poetry collection A Hole in the Night, we are told that there is “a field beyond memory and hope.” In Lana’s words, it is a world infused with warmth, color and vibrancy, a world Van Gogh might have painted. Here, regrets and nightmares live companionably beside the glorious details of daily living: crows, sweet corn, violins, waterfalls, chickens, the presence of Van Gogh’s masterpiece The Starry Night, and so much more. Lana’s work pays tender homage to her beloved muse and mentor, the late poet Patricia Fargnoli. I read these praise-filled poems and felt blessed to be reminded: “the trees become green again as forgiveness.”
–Andrea Potos, author of The Presence of One Word and Her Joy Becomes
In A Hole in the Night, poet Lana Hechtman Ayers practices a profound and playful attentiveness to the world as it is. “I want to juggle eggs and grenades, / surprise the face in the mirror / even if it’s only by sticking out my tongue.” These wise poems befriend artists, singers, and poets across time to show us how much our ordinary lives have to offer us. This book exemplifies everything I love about poetry: lyricism, mundanity, precision, insights, and an unwavering respect for truth. “You bring the rain. / I promise-no umbrellas.” Let these poems drench you.
–Lexi Pelle, author of Let Go with the Lights On
Sometimes we need an invitation to come back into the fold of the world. The poems of A Hole in the Night bring their own lovable, offbeat solace and find heaven right here, “where we make our beds / soft upon the clean earth.”
–Danusha Laméris, author of Blade by Blade
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lana Hechtman Ayers worked in insurance, mutual funds, customer service, research, and fact-checking but her true calling has been publishing the work of other poets as managing editor of Concrete Wolf Poetry Series, MoonPath Press, and World Enough Writers. She also facilitates generative writing workshops in the Amherst Method, conducts an online poetry book club, hosts Zoom poetry reading series, and produces the weekly Poem After Poem Newsletter.
Lana earned BAs in Mathematics and Psychology, holds a Master’s in Counseling Therapy, and possesses MFAs in Poetry and Writing Popular Fiction. A multiple Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, and National Book Award nominee, she won honors in the Discovery / The Nation Award and in the Rita Dove Poetry Prize. She was awarded writing residencies from Hedgebrook, Devils Tower National Park, and the Whiteley Center.
She is the author of fourteen previous collections of poems and chapbooks, including: Still Life with Sorrow and Joy (The Poetry Box, 2026), Sky Over (Fernwood Press, 2026), The Autobiography of Rain (Fernwood Press, 2024), Overtures (Kelsay Books, 2023), When All Else Fails (The Poetry Box, 2023), Red Riding Hood's Real Life (Night Rain Press, 2017), The Moon’s Answer (Egress Studio Press, 2016), Dance From Inside My Bones (Snake Nation Press, 2007), winner of the Haas Award, and Chicken Farmer I Still Love You (D-N Publishing, 2007), winner of D-N’s annual award. She published a romantic time travel adventure, Time Flash: Another Me (Night Rain Books, 2018), and hopes someday to complete the sequel, currently stalled at 25,000 words.
Originally from New York City, she relocated to the Pacific Northwest after a dozen-year sojourn in New England. She now lives in coastal Oregon on unceded lands of the Alsea people with her beloved husband and fur babies, where on clear, quiet nights she can hear the Pacific Ocean whispering to the moon. Rain devotee, former coffee obsessive, her favorite color is the swirl of Van Gogh’s The Starry Night.
FROM THE BOOK:
Save the Stars for Later
by Lana Hechtman Ayers
for Vincent
if the cell door does not open
if the barred window holds no moon
close your eyes
listen to the cows lowing
from a dream of childhood
taste the dewy scent of hay
on your dry tongue
there is a field beyond memory or hope
where crows paint
the dayscape like wild
blackberries and leaves
chatter on cool mist mornings–
promise
to let the kiss of sky be enough
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