Words weave a tapestry,
transform and wrap my heart.
Poems bring me present to the world
and open new doors.
My poems tell stories
created from memories
and holes in memory.
The details of my poems
and my interconnectedness
with the whole of nature
enliven them.
I believe that I will reach
the hearts of others
by being vulnerable and authentic.
I explore the shadows
always looking for the light.
— Lisa Ashley
Debut Book
Oubliettes of Light is a woven chronology of Ashley’s life from childhood, as a descendent of Armenian genocide survivors, into her elder years. Her poems address subjects that live in the shadows: juvenile imprisonment, sexual abuse, miscarriage, chronic illness, suicide, and genocidal trauma. Her words, like an oubliette’s opening, shine light into the shadows of the stories contained in the poems. This book is a time-traveled story, a powerful journey where our curiosity is both piqued and nurtured.
“The poems in Lisa Ashley’s debut collection are knock-your-socks-off good. They are simultaneously lyrical and narrative. The stories are dramatic but are told delicately, with a crystalline economy of words. The poems hit home in the heart and their wisdom remains there. As Ashley says, “There is no such thing as a whole story” yet these poems tell a story so beautifully as to make the reader feel whole.”
— Lillo Way, author of Lend Me Your Wings
