Overview
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.”
This book title, A Bright and Borrowed Light (Poems), ISBN: 9780063429451, by Courtney Kampa, published by HarperCollins (October 14, 2025) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
Unlike Amazon and other retailers who may also offer A Bright and Borrowed Light (Poems) books on their website, we specialize in large quantities and provide personal service, from trusted, experienced, friendly people in Portland, Oregon. We offer a Price Match Guarantee, and QuickQuote form, to make purchasing quick and easy.
Prefer to work with a human being when you order A Bright and Borrowed Light (Poems) books in bulk? Our Book Specialists are standing by Monday-Friday 8-5 PST, ready to help!