Petrosino (28) earned a master's degrees from the University of Chicago and Iowa Writer's Workshop. A young biracial poet of African- and Italian-American decent, she has been praised for her ability to write about race issues in an oblique and humorous fashion. Her work was featured in Best New Poets 2006.

The age-old predicament of loneliness is crucial to the flavor of these poems, which use humor as a conduit to remarkably tender moments. What is perhaps most exciting about this succulent collection is that it clearly comes from a person enjoying herself. . . . As readers, we can feel grateful that Petrosino is somewhere in Iowa, doggedly building bridges with her distinctive brand of paper “Valentine”.—American PoetThe wound at the center of Kiki Petrosino’s remarkable debut is the gap between the dished-out givens of reality and the words and worlds we “customize” out of desire.Each of the book’s three sections dramatizes how even in our high-flying fantasy lives, the ordinariness of the natural reasserts itself as a source of both limitation, and, paradoxically, extraordinary beauty.—David Gorin, The BelieverMeditating on race and love, Kiki Petrosino’s Fort Red Border is a savvy, linguistically nimble, often humorous collection that uses humor’s candor to do interesting investigative work into the pressures society exerts on one’s private life. . . . Though the sinister is always lurking behind her play, threatening the lightness of her candor and humor, it fails to win out in these poems.—Haines Eason, American Book Review

Petrosino (28) earned a master's degrees from the University of Chicago and Iowa Writer's Workshop. A young biracial poet of African- and Italian-American decent, she has been praised for her ability to write about race issues in an oblique and humorous fashion. Her work was featured in Best New Poets 2006.

The age-old predicament of loneliness is crucial to the flavor of these poems, which use humor as a conduit to remarkably tender moments. What is perhaps most exciting about this succulent collection is that it clearly comes from a person enjoying herself. . . . As readers, we can feel grateful that Petrosino is somewhere in Iowa, doggedly building bridges with her distinctive brand of paper “Valentine”.—American PoetThe wound at the center of Kiki Petrosino’s remarkable debut is the gap between the dished-out givens of reality and the words and worlds we “customize” out of desire.Each of the book’s three sections dramatizes how even in our high-flying fantasy lives, the ordinariness of the natural reasserts itself as a source of both limitation, and, paradoxically, extraordinary beauty.—David Gorin, The BelieverMeditating on race and love, Kiki Petrosino’s Fort Red Border is a savvy, linguistically nimble, often humorous collection that uses humor’s candor to do interesting investigative work into the pressures society exerts on one’s private life. . . . Though the sinister is always lurking behind her play, threatening the lightness of her candor and humor, it fails to win out in these poems.—Haines Eason, American Book Review

Petrosino (28) earned a master's degrees from the University of Chicago and Iowa Writer's Workshop. A young biracial poet of African- and Italian-American decent, she has been praised for her ability to write about race issues in an oblique and humorous fashion. Her work was featured in Best New Poets 2006.

The age-old predicament of loneliness is crucial to the flavor of these poems, which use humor as a conduit to remarkably tender moments. What is perhaps most exciting about this succulent collection is that it clearly comes from a person enjoying herself. . . . As readers, we can feel grateful that Petrosino is somewhere in Iowa, doggedly building bridges with her distinctive brand of paper “Valentine”.—American PoetThe wound at the center of Kiki Petrosino’s remarkable debut is the gap between the dished-out givens of reality and the words and worlds we “customize” out of desire.Each of the book’s three sections dramatizes how even in our high-flying fantasy lives, the ordinariness of the natural reasserts itself as a source of both limitation, and, paradoxically, extraordinary beauty.—David Gorin, The BelieverMeditating on race and love, Kiki Petrosino’s Fort Red Border is a savvy, linguistically nimble, often humorous collection that uses humor’s candor to do interesting investigative work into the pressures society exerts on one’s private life. . . . Though the sinister is always lurking behind her play, threatening the lightness of her candor and humor, it fails to win out in these poems.—Haines Eason, American Book Review