Kiki Petrosino is the author of the new poetry collection White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia. Her other books include Witch Wife and Hymn for the Black Terrific, and her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Poetry and Best American Poetry. She is a professor of poetry at the University of Virginia.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for White Blood?
A: A few years ago, after the passing of my grandmother, I
began contemplating issues of personal genealogy & family origin.
My grandmother's family originates in central Virginia, in a
county adjacent to Albemarle (where Monticello &
the University of Virginia are located). I realized that my
great-great-ancestors were alive, in that county, during the time when
Jefferson was at Monticello, writing Notes on the State of Virginia.
The landscape he saw from his mountain belonged, as much, to
my ancestors, but it is only in recent years that the public
discourse, and public institutions, have acknowledged the lived reality of
the free and enslaved Afro-Virginians who contributed so much to our nation.
I wanted to write about what it means to (re)claim this very
specific heritage, in light of the fraught racial histories embedded in this
land.
Q: The collection focuses in part on the University of
Virginia, located in Charlottesville, and on Thomas Jefferson. Especially given
the focus on Charlottesville in recent years, what do you hope readers take
away from these poems?
A: I attended the University of Virginia in the late ‘90s
and early 2000s as an undergraduate student.
At the time, I entered UVA as an outsider: I was an
out-of-state student, a student of color, and paying for my schooling with
scholarships and financial aid in an environment that was predominantly
in-state, predominantly white, and where many of my peers were beneficiaries of
legacy wealth.
That said, I treasured my time at UVA, making many friends
of all backgrounds and taking part in worthwhile extracurricular activities.
The racial history of UVA was something I knew about as a student, but, I
realize now, I subconsciously distanced myself from these sorrows.
It is only as an adult that I have begun coming to terms
with the ways race, class, gender, and economic disparity have inscribed
academia and other American institutions.
I was already writing White Blood before the August 2017
events in Charlottesville, but as the town, and the University, took center
stage in the larger conversation around racism in this country, I realized that
the book had to be about more than genealogy.
I wanted to revisit my undergraduate-self and remember what
it was like to live in Charlottesville at that time. The torches of 2017 appear
as an image in one poem to highlight for the reader the painful ways that
unspoken (and unfinished) histories can break into our present reality.
Q: How was the collection's title chosen, and what does it
signify for you?
A: I hope the title suggests the indelible
bonds--visible & invisible, spoken & unspoken--that tie all Americans
to one another.
Acknowledging ourselves as belonging to this American
family, no matter our race, religion, or nation of origin, also requires us to
talk, in a real way, about the painful realities of our shared history.
Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything
that surprised you?
A: I used a mixture of research techniques for the book.
On-line, I took advantage of the recent surge in archival digitization to
access all sorts of genealogical documents pertaining to my family history. I
also traveled to Virginia several times to visit repositories of
physical records, such as those housed at the Library of Virginia in
Richmond.
Because I was interested in the touristic language of
historic American plantation sites, I visited Monticello, as a ticket tourist,
about half a dozen times. I was surprised to be just as intrigued by the
overheard conversations of my fellow tour-goers as by the discourse of the
professional guides.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm in the very early stages of a companion book to White
Blood. It will also be a collection of poems, but this one will trace
another branch of my family tree, following a particular group of African
American ancestors from enslavement, to freedom, and finally, to literacy, that
great gift.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: For anyone interested in archives, genealogy, or history
in general: librarians are our great friends in this work! 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.
I have really enjoyed crossing disciplines and media in
order to write White Blood, as the work has put me in contact with the
many dedicated, energetic professionals who take care of our shared history.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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