Membery
 | |
| Author | Preeti Kaur Rajpal |
|---|---|
| Genre | Poetry |
| Publisher | Tupelo Press |
| Publication date | November 2023 |
| Pages | 118 |
| ISBN | 978-1-946482-98-3 |
Membery (stylized in lowercase) is the 2023 debut poetry collection of Preeti Kaur Rajpal, published by Tupelo Press.[1]
Form
The collection explores memory and Sikh spirituality in the context of India's Partition and the post-9/11 American Sikh experience. Structured in four udaasis, like Guru Nanak's spiritual journeys, the poems weave Rajpal's experiences growing up in the San Joaquin Valley with her immigrant grandparents.[1]
Critical reception
Calling it a "clever debut," Publishers Weekly stated the book "launches the reader into a spiritual journey through an ars poetica of social justice" and lauded its mastery of both experimental forms and lyricism as means of interrogating history.[2]
Pedestal Magazine called it "haunting," praising how Rajpal "follows the etymology of words and definitions like a road map to truth" and concluding that "the consequences of diaspora live on equally in the DNA and collective memories of its descendants."[3]
Compulsive Reader wrote that it "reads like a piece of art" and praised its cohesion.[4]
References
- 1 2 "Membery". University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
- ↑ "membery". Publishers Weekly. 2023. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
- ↑ Herceg, Karen Corinne. "Preeti Kaur Rajpal's membery". Pedestal Magazine. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
- ↑ Jutzi, Karina (2024-06-03). "A review of membery by Preeti Kaur Rajpal". Compulsive Reader. Retrieved 2026-04-15.