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Villa Negativa is where you are when you don't know who or what you are-a place we all inhabit.
About the author
Villa Negativa is Sharon McCartney's seventh volume of poetry. Her previous books include
Metanoia (2016, Biblioasis),
Hard Ass (2013, Palimpsest),
For and Against (2010, Goose Lane Editions),
The Love Song of Laura Ingalls Wilder (2007, Nightwood Editions),
Karenin Sings the Blues (2003, Goose Lane Editions) and
Under the Abdominal Wall (1999, Anvil Press). Sharon's poems have been included in several editions of
The Best Canadian Poetry in English. She has an MFA from the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop and an LL.B. from the University of Victoria and currently lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
Summary
Villa Negativa is where you are when you don’t know who or what you are—a place we all inhabit.
Foreword
Print run 1000 Co-op available National print campaign: Booklist, Foreword, Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness; Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Minneapolis Star Tribune, New Yorker, New York Times, New York Times Book Review, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post; The Atlantic, The Believer, Bookforum, Harper’s, Poetry Magazine, Los Angeles Review of Books Online and social media campaign: pitch reviews and interviews to Book Riot, Brooklyn Rail, Electric Literature, Flavorwire, Lit Hub, New Yorker Book Bench, NPR.org, NPR Books, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily. GIveaways through Edelweiss, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Instagram. E-book available same date as print edition, e-book ISBN included on press materials and websites and promoted via social media. Excerpts in Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, The Believer, New Yorker
Additional text
Praise for Sharon McCartney
“Part satire, part self-examination, and far more layered than it first appears. Working largely in free verse… moving between levity and sincerity in a short span… The collection is brilliant: short, sharp, and eminently readable. Although it is a quick read, it is a deeply satisfying one.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“So much is revealed in so few words … It’s a book that feels light, but its delivery is heavy, and worthy of contemplation … McCartney is merciless in exposing vulnerability, but also builds an intimacy integral to Metanoia‘s achievement.”—Quill & Quire (starred review)
“McCartney has written exceedingly rhythmical poems … and this is one of the reasons she holds a place of high esteem in the Canadian poetry scene for me … There’s a ton to empathize over, rage against, or even pshaw in disdain towards, usually in the face of some sad sack male character … “Agonal and Preterminal,” the third piece, perfectly sketches a painful portrait of an era of institutionalization, medicalese and the hush of shame.”—Marrow Reviews
“You don’t read these poems, you feel them: Hammer in the head, shod foot on the throat, stiletto in the heart. It’s those combos of wild, piercing insights (or unusual but poignant images); yep, that’s what makes it good for you–or kills you, laughing.”—George Elliott Clarke
