Let the Forest Go: Poems - Paperback

by Justin Wymer (Author)

Let the Forest Go is a memoir in poetic fragments that follows a queer Appalachian's quest for truth as he explores memory, intergenerational trauma, and the rise of authoritarian power. During the turbulent 2016 US presidential election, Justin Wymer experienced a sense of dislocation while teaching English in Spain--where the landscape resembles his home region, but cultures differ deeply. Through letters, poems, and vignettes, this intensely personal and formally inventive work captures his impressions, blending lyric prose and verse to offer a unique examination of belonging.

In this liminal space, time, and environment, Wymer dissects his multifaceted identity as an expat, a gay man raised in a religious, small West Virginia town, a member of a family involved in the opioid epidemic, a mourner caught within Appalachia's poorly understood grieving rites, and a human witness to ecological devastation. By searching for beauty amid past and present destruction, Let the Forest Go attempts to embody queerness through fluctuating form and interrogates whether memory, being unavoidably fictional, is a viable source of inspiration.

Author Biography

Justin Wymer is a writer and educator from West Virginia. He is the author of DEED and has been honored by the Harvard Office for the Arts, the Radcliffe Institute, the University of Iowa, and the Academy of American Poets. His work appears in the Boston Review, the Kenyon Review, Literary Hub, and other publications. Find him online at justinwymer.com.