Re-Origin of Species

by Alessandra Naccarato

Winner of RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers
Winner of CBC Poetry Prize
Shortlisted for the 2020 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award
Longlisted for the 2020 Pat Lowther Memorial Award From hybrid bodies to shifting landscapes, Re-Origin of Species blurs the lines of the real. These poems journey through illness and altered states to position disability and madness as evolutionary traits; skilled adaptations aligned with ecological change. A lyric contemplation of our relationship to the environment, this book looks at the interdependence of species. Weaving personal narratives with a study of the insect kingdom, it draws parallels between human illness, climate change, and the state of peril in the natural world. Praise for Re-Origin of Species : "In this debut collection of startling beauty, Alessandra Naccarato weaves together the mythological and mundane, the ephemeral and the eternal, into a luminous tapestry of lyric and narrative. Naccarato's shimmering threads illuminate the connections that bind together every living thing on every level of being—from the interpersonal, to the political, to the spiritual. This is exquisite, playful, intentional poetry—and it just might be medicine for us all." —Kai Cheng Thom, author of I HOPE WE CHOOSE A Trans Girl's Notes From the End of the World "What a hive of a book—these poems are so urgent, gorgeous, and necessary. Re-Origin of Species is a siren's call and warning siren all at once." —Leah Horlick, author of For Your Own Good "Ranging from the sting of personal loss to navigating landscapes full of promise, Naccarato?s poetry interrogates the place where the personal meets the wild." —2015 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award Jury

Genres: Poetry, Queer

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2019

Reviews

[Leah Horlick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky to be asked to write a blurb for Alessandra Naccarato's much anticipated first full-length collection: "What a hive of a book - these poems are so urgent, gorgeous, and necessary. Re-Origin of Species is a siren's call and warning siren all at once."

[Jennie Chantal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow. This collection of poems really did it for me. I’m reeling a bit. Super evocative language full of colour and movement that pulled me right into the scenes, feelings, moments and messages of these poems. Magic, family, ancestry, land, animals, illness, spirit, the body, climate change, pollution, capitalism, death and survival all in and out of relation and dependence. Wonderful.

[1000poundeyelids · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal, moving, gut wrenching, inspiring, and so so beautiful.

[df parizeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nature has long been a source of poetic inspiration, but I dare say no poet has reached this level of intimate depth.

These poems explore more than the beauty that surrounds the speaker, diving into the ways in which they are supported and healed by their locality.

Re-Origin of Species is a call to be more tender and communicative with nature, so that we may be able to begin to nurture a relationship we have often been neglectful of.

[Anna]

An unreal collection - imagine yourself standing in the middle of a dry, hot rural Italian field, batting away bees, surrounded by bones and blood and honey and things that move in the corners of your eyes. Naccarato wields language like a scythe, filleting away the artifice and laying bare the meatiest, most animal parts of ourselves.

[Anna Marie Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh, such a brilliant collection of poems...stunning, expansive, and so many themes delicately interwoven together.

[Jaecy Bells · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book because I love poetry and biology, so this seemed to hit all of that good stuff.
I think I read it in once sitting -- beautiful imagery and a really original tone, but I think it's the type of poetry I'll need to read a few times to really let it absorb.

[Dana Neily · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Beautiful language and clever presentation. I found some of the poems hard to follow. Favourites include: It Could Be A Virus, No Comment, No Homestead

[Peter McCambridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to read more poetry. I need to read more poetry like this.