The Lyme Letters: Poems

Walt McDonald First-Book Series in Poetry

by C.R. Grimmer

The Lyme Letters is epistolary verse that spells out a memoir. R, a non-binary femme character, narrates their experience of disease and recovery through recurrent letters to doctors, pets, family members, lovers, and a "Master." R, in letter form and repurposed religious texts, also explores the paradoxical experiences of queer non-reproductivity, chronic illness and disability, and the healing that can be found in the liminal spaces between.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 26, 2021

Reviews

[Terrance · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lyme Letters is an utterly singular, massively important book, a memoir-in-poetry-in-letters that delves into queer desire, being chronically ill as a nonbinary femme, deeply personal accommodation requests (that are fantastic examples of how to craft your own) to landlords, and the moments of summer camp when a tiny bite changes your life indelibly.

Grimmer's debut is delightfully self-assured and formally daring: I can't recommend it highly enough to those, who, like me, always felt alone in their experience with the disease.

[Kelsey Bryan-Zwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. This exploration of identity and privacy as disability develops and becomes better understood by the body experiencing them. How to self advocate for oneself is a clear theme in these hybrid letter-poems. This is disability poetics at it's finest, from a kind and honest writer. Five stars, the moon, and the universe beyond, give this book everything and it will give it right back.

[Robin Madni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very unique way for people suffering with Lyme disease to be able to express themselves and the battles they have had to overcome.
I happened to love poetry so it was a good read for me.
It’s so inspiring to hear other people stories that are suffering with the same disease that you are in the way that they have navigated it.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful collection, on so many levels. There are a lot of overlaps with my own approach, so the places where there was not overlap were really interesting and instructive and engaging for me. I felt like it helped me grow as a writer, on top of its many other merits.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to give you some piece of this sun but when i put it in a box it burnt everything. It ate my apartment & now i want your house.