“In the end, our stories are the most powerful things we have,” David Olimpio writes in THIS IS NOT A CONFESSION. Born not of a singular form but forged from many - essay, memoir, hybrid, collage - this book is as textured and varied as the human experience. It may defy easy classification, but readers will agree: here is an unforgettable debut that will shatter you. With devastating honesty and keen, poetic insight, Olimpio captures the fluidity of time and selfhood as he pierces the heart of the age-old question: What makes us? “We create our memories; they do not create us.”

“This Is Not a Confession is too gracious to be a manifesto and too lyrical to be a screed. What it may be however, is a road map, a refutation and a reminder that the shame and confusion may well reverberate across time, but at the end of the day we need not be the products of the transgressions visited upon us, not when we search for truth, make art and choose to be the beautiful, complicated creations we were meant to be from the start.”

“This is Not A Confession … is risky, and David Olimpio’s voice is modern and insightful. He has found a way to share his journey without ego or shame, and arrives at the center of one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves: Who am I and how did I get here? Olimpio answers this question with a fearless, sometimes heartbreaking, honesty that speaks truth to the human experience.”