Selected for the BC 2000 Book Awards Program

Under the Abdominal Wall is a moving collection of poetry, an elegy for ones loved and lost. The pieces in this volume focus largely on the subjects of childbirth, illness and loss - of a sibling and a parent. While the subjects of death and illness are forefront, they are countered by a theme of rejuvenation. McCartney addresses difficult, emotionally straining subjects head-on with strength, wonder and passion.

Praise for Under the Abdominal Wall:

"Exact, unflinching, intelligent. Poems that do not look away, that render life's messy complexities as precisely as a scalpel separates flesh from bone. I cannot recommend Under the Abdominal Wall highly enough." (Patricia Young, recipient, Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize)

"This is an extraordinary first book, a voice relentless in its self-examination, fierce and joyous at once." (Marlene Cookshaw, Editor, The Malahat Review)

"Some readers may find the litany of complaints surrounding illness bordering on the sacrilegious or obscene, but McCartney is able to pull it off by infusing a raw energy into her work. While adolescence is a universal time for rebellion, 'I wear bikinis and smoke as much dope and whisper fuck you to my sister who is dying,' the poet pushes beyond convention ... the narrator's uncompromising honesty reveals the grim hold and toll illness and death have on the living." (Quill & Quire)