VANTABLACK
The Limited Edition physical copies are SOLD OUT. Now exclusively available as a PDF download for $5 here
What is VANTABLACK?
Ciona Rouse’s first collection of poems — and Third Man Books’ debut title in the publisher’s new chapbook series (think 10” EP as a music analogy). The chapbook is Rouse’s quiet music played within the language of her poems, waiting to scream; the music of place, race, sexuality, home, growing up, being grown; everything in the life of a word.
Ciona Rouse is a staple in Nashville’s literary scene (you may remember her from our joint event at OZ Arts for International Women’s Day) and we could not be more proud to have her as our pioneer chapbook author. Rouse’s debut poetry collection features 17 poems that are thought-provoking: shaking and waking readers, unafraid to dive into the deep and dark encompassed by the word “Vantablack.” These limited edition (only 350 made) chapbooks include a special audio flexi-disc postcard of Rouse reading her powerful poem, “On the Sidewalk of Troy, TN, 1904.”
Author:
Ciona Rouse
Ciona Rouse is a poet and educator. The author of Vantablack, the first chapbook of Third Man Books (2017), her poetry has also appeared in Oxford American, wildness, Booth, The Account, and other publications. She’s featured on NPR’s Turning the Tables in a collaborative project with poets Adia Victoria and Caroline Randall Williams. A frequent collaborator with various artists, she served as a resident poet for the “Nick Cave: FEAT” art exhibition at Frist Art Museum in 2017-2018 and is co-curator of the Kara Walker: Cut to the Quick exhibition originating at the Frist Art Museum. Rouse has been a visiting writer at Vanderbilt University, The University of the South Sewanee, and presently at Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center. A Nashville resident of 20 years, Rouse created several literary events to help grow the city’s poetry community and is currently creating a bookstore/bar concept in the Wedgewood/Houston area.
