Negative Space: An Interview With Lilly Dancyger Catapult and Barrelhouse Books editor Lilly Dancyger talks about her debut memoir Negative Space. Author: Lilly Dancyger—editor of the anthology Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger and assistant editor of Barrelhouse Books—never intended to write a memoir. She originally set out to write about her father Joe Schactman, a member of the iconic 1980s East Village art scene who died unexpectedly when she was young. The book she eventually wrote, Negative Space, combines Dancyger's reporting skills honed while earning her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism with her rosy childhood memories growing up in the East Village and San Francisco to reveal instability fraying at the edges. Her interviews with those that were close to her father and analysis of his sculptures, paintings, and prints guide her to a better understanding of her loving father, whose escalating addiction to heroin sometimes overshadowed his creative passion. Along the way, Dancyger examines her own past self-destructive spirals and finds her voice as an artist and writer.