Bright: A Memoir

by Kiki Petrosino

A Memoir, the first full-length essay collection from acclaimed poet Kiki Petrosino, is a work of lyric nonfiction, offering glimpses of a life lived between cultural worlds. “Bright,” a slang term used to describe light-skinned people of interracial American ancestry, becomes the starting point for an extended meditation on the author’s upbringing in a mixed Black and Italian American family. Alternating moments of memoir, archival research, close reading and reverie, this work contemplates the enduring, deeply personal legacies of enslavement and racial discrimination in America. Situated at the luminous crossroads where public and private histories collide, Bright asks important questions about love, heritage, identity and creativity.

Genres: Poetry, Memoir, Nonfiction, Essays, Religion

89 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 9, 2022

About the author

Kiki Petrosino is the author of White Blood: a Lyric of Virginia (2020) and three other poetry books, all from Sarabande. She holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop. Her memoir, Bright, is forthcoming from Sarabande in 2022. She directs the Creative Writing Program at the University of Virginia, where she is a Professor of Poetry. Petrosino is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Fellowship in Creative Writing from the National Endowment for the Arts, the UNT Rilke Prize, & the Spalding Prize, among other honors.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

• BRIGHT: A Memoir by Kiki Petrosino

Memoir in verse, beautiful technique and form as well as experimental printing techniques in the book. Stumbled upon this at the library on New Releases shelf and keen to read Petrosino's other collections - 4.5✨

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found myself utterly speechless after reading this. I’m honestly struggling to put words down. Brilliant, passionate, patient, impatient, human, emotions, power, vulnerability, sadness, strength. There’s so many single words I can think of that hit me at different times through this memoir and there’s so many more I could list. Ms. Petrosing is beyond talented with words, storytelling and experimental text placement and design. I didn’t want her story to end. I wanted to know more about her experiences, her inner workings, her thoughts. I wanted to hold her hand when the world failed her. What can I do now? Sing her praises, boost the signal and make her voice heard. She opened my eyes a little bigger to a variety of topics, those being ones many of us tuck away or hide deep down. If I could truly say one thing about this book or to the author I’d have to say, “Thank You”. Wow. Thank you for being you, for sharing your voice with everyone and in a way so elegant with truth and passion.

[Jess]

wow wow wow

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

It starts with the book cover, and it brings you in, leaving you wanting just a little more.

[Han · Rating 5 out of 5]

After my first reading. I have previously read (and re-re-re read) Petrosinos poetry collections. I was very much looking forward to Bright. This one also begs to be read over and over again. Being a CIS white male, the works of Petrosino provides sort of an emotional gateway to attempt to step outside of my own mindset, in ways only poetry seems able to. The emotional journeys one is taken on in this book is enthralling, devastating, rich and sometimes cringe inducing ("all evening"). I will not attempt to describe it more than that since words fail me. But for me there is just something about Petrosinos writing that captures me. Bright does so in another way than previous works. It feels important for me to have read this one, and I can't wait to get back to it again.

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Update: after a couple of re-reads I am even more enamored with this book. So much emotion and condensed descriptions of childhood, landscapes and otherness.

[Shawna Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this short but poignant memoir which is told in fairy tale vignettes and micro-ruminations that are no less powerful or profound than sprawling, elaborate chapters. I was surprised by how quickly the author managed to make me deeply invested in her story, and I loved the way she wove bits of complicated, fraught Western culture (Thomas Jefferson, The Tempest) into the narrative of her own complex family.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given it 5 stars had it been longer...it ended far too soon.

I was moved by her remembrances, the breath-taking descriptions of the thoughtless way people viewed her because of her skin color.

I was moved by the lyric quality of the words.

[Ana Hein · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Heavy on the lyricism, more of a meditation than a memoir I would say, but no less brilliant for it. There were some places where I thought it could linger a little more or be more elaborative, but on the whole, I enjoyed it!

[Iris (Yi Youn) Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful. Petrosino takes "brightness," a racially laden term, and turns it into a word of exploration and excavation into her geneological, mythical, and political ancestries. I especially related to the remnants of Catholicism in a religion-less life.

[Ana Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting autobiography through poetry. Not my favorite style of poetry, but interesting and artistic for sure. Gives good insight into being biracial.

[francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

not super experienced with lyrical nonfiction but a bit too experimental for my taste

[Alice Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fan of poetry, but still good

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful. So glad I read this memoir.

[OK · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times elliptical but wise and concise and lyrical

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One to re-read. Only complaint is I want to follow her threads of thoughts further and deeper.

[Reya]

lacks a strong thesis

[Carmella McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

For class,probably a 4?

[R. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyric. Honest. Innovative. I love what the author does with form, especially since it deepens the reader's understanding of the narrative rather than distracts from it.

[tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

just wow this is the kind of writing that makes me jealous

[Reagan Kapasi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Standout, stunning form. Heartfelt and impacting. Very much liked the feel of this book in my hands.

grandpa holding two girls hands from bus past neighbours silencing racism
already I believed I could ruin it
one must be able to empathize with a suicide yet not become one
I have words, & I have questions
But there have been times, in my life, when I've wanted to be with the dead
only to open the light again in the morning,
on all she would carry (building translucent poem)

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than once while reading this, I wondered just where we were going, as unexpected strands were woven into the narrative. Following along was always rewarding. Combining beautiful, lyrical language with penetrating thought and insight, this book's impact is much larger than its physical size.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

stunning.