A Bright and Borrowed Light - by Courtney Kampa (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A gorgeous collection of poems exploring womanhood, sisterhood, love, loss, and longing, for people who find catharsis in poems, or people who have always wanted to read poetry, but don't know where to start. "How little/love is. How worth everything." Such is the central theme of Courtney Kampa's sharp yet tender "Skin and Other Weapons," one in a collection of beautiful, intimate poems examining the little shared experiences that make us human."--

Book Synopsis

"A kaleidoscopic and finely-tuned voice full of acuity, wit, intelligence and, perhaps most importantly, a deep and defiant love for a world burning at its edges. I am so grateful to have come upon this true poet." --Ocean Vuong

A gorgeous collection of poems exploring womanhood, sisterhood, love, loss, and longing, for people who find catharsis in poems, or people who have always wanted to read poetry, but don't know where to start.

"How little / love is. How worth everything." Such is the central theme of Courtney Kampa's sharp yet tender "Skin and Other Weapons," one in a collection of beautiful, intimate poems examining the little shared experiences that make us human. Courtney herself was the kind of person who made life better just for knowing her, and though she tragically passed in 2022, her work carries her brilliance and light forward. While Courtney is no longer here, her husband Will Anderson notes that converting readers to poetry was one of her greatest joys, and this collection will make a convert of any reader.

Courtney wrote for the girls she was raised with and the women she was raised by. She wrote for herself--which is to say, she wrote for so many of us. In "Cartography," a group of friends dissects the end of a relationship with a woman who, through the telling, becomes "meaner now, and / more beautiful." In "The Rules" she writes "I don't believe in girlhood. I don't believe / we are ever small, or ever don't know what it is / we shouldn't know," challenging the sweetness and innocence constantly attributed to little girls who live in a world that is neither sweet nor innocent. In "The Cool Kids," the speaker, desperate to belong but horrified by what her peers require of her, wonders "if this is what it feels like / to be pinned down by the sky."

Individually, each of these poems feels like advice from a friend who knows you deeply, and provides a sense of comfort and validation. Taken as a whole, the collection tells a larger story of growth--of the love and loss involved--and learning how to exist in the world. As accessible as they are transcendent, these poems will leave readers feeling as if they have been "anointed with a bright and borrowed light."

Review Quotes

"A kaleidoscopic and finely-tuned voice full of acuity, wit, intelligence and, perhaps most importantly, a deep and defiant love for a world burning at its edges. I am so grateful to have come upon this true poet--and deeply sad that there won't be more poems from this bright, wild light that is Courtney Kampa."

- Ocean Vuong

"Kampa's poems are not just a celebration of adolescent girlhood, but an intimate, whimsical, and stunningly precise investigation. Her writing left me with a sharpened focus and new glossary for my own memories as a woman. To spend time in Kampa's brain, to see the world through her eyes, is an unparalleled gift." - Olivia Gatwood, author of Life of the Party

"Courtney Kampa's lush and light-flooded poems make palpable the details that make a life meaningful. 'Beauty is what the memory never abandons, ' she writes, and it is true. Even as they account for how fragile everything is--our safety, our illusions--these poems sing for 'some goodness in our world.' I still feel the intimacy and vitality and care and wisdom of her voice; her work remains to teach me, to teach us all." - Richie Hofmann, author of A Hundred Lovers

"Courtney Kampa's extraordinary A Bright and Borrowed Light is lush and abundant, a book that yearns and swerves and articulates with uncanny precision the many ways danger and desire carry us forward and carry us off. The quickened pulse of the crisis, the realization that "what was crushed grew more fragrant, then dropped" these are poems that will call you back into your own life with sharpened attention. They will remind you "How little/love is. How worth everything." - Edgar Kunz, author of Fixer

"If you've been looking for an entrée into poetry, look no further. Courtney Kampa's collection of tender, perfectly made poems is both relatable and transcendent. Readers navigating adolescence and young adulthood will find a kindred spirit in Kampa's speakers, while more seasoned readers will admire the deft skill, hard-won wisdom, and graceful lyricism with which Kampa approaches everyday encounters. A Bright and Borrowed Light navigates the complex tangle of love and family in a singular and timeless voice that will resonate with readers of all ages." - Catherine Pond, author of Fieldglass

"Gripping, gritty, and altogether electric. This profoundly fresh and unflinching collection will knock the wind out of you." - Lyndsay Rush, USA Today bestselling author of A Bit Much

"Courtney's poetry makes the world and everything in it seem heartbreakingly precious and worthy of capturing in a poem. Reading A Bright and Borrowed Light makes me wish I had had the chance to know Courtney in this lifetime- it is an absolutely beautiful collection of story-like poems that you'll want to read over and over again." - Hannah Rosenberg, author of Same

"In this vibrantly cinematic collection, Courtney Kampa captures the wrecked and wondrous world with a brilliant command of deeply felt language and startling beauty.... Kampa's blazing, virtuosic syntax unspools like lush honey, drizzling over intensely ephemeral snapshots that flicker and blaze.... I will never stop poetry-crushing on Courtney Kampa and this lasting lighthouse of a collection, which radiates her magnificent poetic light to all of us, her lucky readers." - Tiana Clark, award-winning author of Scorched Earth