I wrote an essay in the current issue of Virginia Quarterly Review to accompany a stunning photo portfolio by Brian Palmer, all about neglected historic Black cemeteries in Virginia.
White Blood Listed Among Open Books Curated Recs
Open Books: A Poetry Emporium lists White Blood among 89 books dealing with “History by Black & Indigenous Women & Femmes” exploring histories private & public.
White Blood Reviewed in The Arkansas International
Many thanks to Rome Morgan for this capsule review of White Blood, which appeared in The Arkansas International back in October.
Rob McLennan Reviews White Blood
Many thanks to Rob McLennan for this review of White Blood in Periodicities: A Journal of Poetry.
Complicating the Domestic
White Blood was mentioned in a critical essay by Ariel Katz for Ploughshares
Words of Gratitude from Kentucky
Back in November, Kentucky Poet Laureate Jeff Worley listed White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia among recent notable books by Kentucky writers. Though I now live in Virginia, I wrote most of the manuscript for White Blood while I still lived in Kentucky. I’m grateful to be remembered among Kentucky writers.
Selected White Blood Poems Reprinted in Verse
A “playlist” of poems from White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia is available on Verse today.
“Every story has a beginning, and mine starts in Virginia.”
"Afro" reprinted in Harvard Review Online
My poem, “Afro,” from my 2009 debut Fort Red Border is reprinted on the homepage of Harvard Review Online.
The Poems that Poets Turn To in a Time of Strife
I was one of 15 poets asked by The New York Times Books section to name the poems we seek in hard times. My contribution has to do with Dante.
White Blood is "New & Noteworthy" in The New York Times
Thank you!
White Blood Reviewed in Southern Review of Books
Thank you!
“Petrosino shows impressive range, including stand-alone and blackout poems and even a double crown of modified sonnets. Regardless of form, she depicts the complexity of race relations and racial identity in Virginia from Jefferson’s time to the contemporary moment.”
White Blood Reviewed in Harvard Review
Many thanks to Harvard Review for this review of White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia.
“The collection has a searching, yearning momentum that is cut by the wry intellect of a speaker who knows her pursuit of historical meaning remains subject to the same colonial forces that influenced the lives of her ancestors.”
Publisher's Weekly Antiracist Poetry Reading List
“These recent poetry collections offer poignant narratives and snapshots of racial injustice in America, from lasting testaments of systemic violence to a public appeal for the vital work that remains to be done as the country confront its legacy of racism and exploitation.”
Interview in Adroit Journal
I had a conversation with Lucy Catlett, of The Adroit Journal, about White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia.
“I think that what I learned is that futility is a feeling you have when you’ve been asking the wrong questions, and that’s what the start of my genealogical journey felt like.”
Q&A on Publisher's Weekly Poetry Tumblr
Thanks to Maya C. Popa for the great questions, up today on Publisher’s Weekly Poetry Tumblr
“ In practical terms, no poem of mine can speak for ancestors whose historical voices are lost. What my poems can do is open a door of inquiry, to invite readers to explore & imagine our way into mystery. This is a process of vision-seeking.”
Starred Review in Publisher's Weekly
White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia has garnered a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. I’m thrilled!
“ Petrosino’s modes and poetic forms are manifold, always attending to the strangeness of language that attempts to capture time.“
White Blood Reviewed in RHINO Poetry
Many thanks to Emily Pérez for this thoughtful review of White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia, currently in RHINO Poetry.
White Blood Interview in Poets & Writers
It was a pleasure to speak with India Gonzalez from Poets & Writers about the research process for White Blood: a Lyric of Virginia.
“We are discovering more and more that we’re all family on some level, if not biologically then culturally, regionally, and locally.”
White Blood is a Millions Must-Read Poetry Pick for May 2020
Thank you, The Millions!
“Another ambitious volume from Petrosino. Revelation through ancestry test: a narrator wonders how genetic history routes our lives, and how we are to fully reckon with our past, known and unknown.”
Book Q&A with Deborah Kalb
In my interview for Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, I talk about White Blood, UVA & my love of librarians:
“Several times, I thought I had reached a "brick wall" in my research, and a wonderful librarian was able to find additional documents or point me in a fruitful direction for more inquiry.”