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 B. 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.x000D
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.
