Home and Other Duty Stations

If you happened to hear people cheering recently, it was probably the editors of poetry magazines celebrating the news that Emily Lake Hansen's debut poetry collection was about to be released. For a long time, Emily's work has enchanted readers and editors alike, yet this collection manages to exceed those high expectations by gracing us with an entire book roiling with Emily's trademark storytelling and lyrical poignancy.

-Michael Meyerhofer, author of Ragged Eden"I don't know what home is," writes Emily Lake Hansen in the opening poem of Home and other Duty Stations, her searching and wise and page-turning debut collection of poetry. A quest for permanence and a place to call home threads through this compelling book, but so do mermaids and camellias, spiders and stingrays, mental illness, and cacti. In these rich, poignant, emotionally astute poems, Lake Hansen leads us on a journey from childhood to motherhood, and we are left learning to "believe in the magic" of words to sustain and transform.

-Dr. Beth Gylys, author of Body Braille and Sky Blue Enough to Drink