C. R. Grimmer
C. R. Grimmer, who also goes by Chelsea Grimmer and uses she/her and they/them pronouns interchangeably is the author of The Lyme Letters (#thelymeletters). They are also the author of O–(ezekiel's wife), a chapbook and audiobook collaboration from GASHER Journal and Press. Recently, C. R. completed their Ph.D. in Literature and Cultural Studies with support from fellowships such as The Simpson Center for the Humanities' Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Public Humanities Fellowship. They received their MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University in 2013, MA in Literature from the same institution in 2014, and BA from Oakland University in 2011.
In Winter 2021, C. R. began a new position as Communications Manager for The Simpson Center for the Humanities at the UW. They are also currently a Public Scholarship Project Director in the UW Department of English, where they are the Series Editor for "Literature, Language, Culture: A Dialogue Series." C. R. created and hosts The Poetry Vlog, has poems in journals such as Poetry Magazine, FENCE Magazine, and [PANK], and has published articles in journals such as The Comparatist.
Their current scholarly book project, Poetry as Public Scholarship: Activist Poetics in the Time of Social Media, combines research analysis and practitioner discourses through text, audio, and video to examine the relationships between racial capitalism, popularized poetry, digital humanities' social engagement, and public scholarship methods.
The artwork on this and the Books page is by Colleen Burner (they/them). The full series can viewed in the print edition of O–(ezekiel's wife).
Advance Praise:
An extraordinary collection of poems dedicated to the hard work of healing, and the impact of being surrounded by a caring community. In the end, help from others is to help ourselves for "a story about where to put / my brain & feel my body speak into it." The poet C. R. Grimmer fills our every thought after reading, adjusting us to a larger lens on the world.
– CA Conrad, author of The Book of Frank
The Lyme Letters
O–(ezekiel's wife):
AudioBook Edition
Audio recordings of these poems, read by the author C.R. Grimmer, are accompanied by digital soundscapes by sound artist Judy Twedt. The auditory tapestries, inspired by each poem, use recorded, synthesized, and algorithmically generated sounds -- both recognizable and not -- interwoven to evoke image, place, and movement.
The sounds play with the spoken word, at times with mimicry and reflection, at times with repetition or cacophony, in contestation of she/they who was/is unnamed. Album art is from the series "Hewn Fruit" by Colleen Burner. The full printed ink series is in the print edition of O–(ezekiel's wife).
The Poetry Vlog (TPV) is a teaching YouTube and Podcast series dedicated to building social justice coalitions through arts and scholarship dialogues. It is currently in its 4th Season. It remains a free, open access resource through support by The Simpson Center for the Humanities Mellon Foundation Public Scholarship fellowship program, Jack Straw Cultural Center, and community contributions.
The Poetry Vlog (TPV)
Print & Audio Collection Published by GASHER Press
The print edition features a visual art series by Colleen Burner, which is titled: "Hewn Fruit."
The audio edition is a collaboration with Digital Sound Artist Judy Twedt. It features digital soundscapes accompanying poetry readings, as well as guest voices by Abi Pollokoff, Katelyn Oppegard, Woogee Bae. Audio Edition available 02/29/2020.
About the Poems:
O’s (they/them or she/her) story comes out of a network. Their smallest start branches out of a series in The Lyme Letters that sort through nonbinary, queer, crip, and femme experiences in Biblical master narratives across Judeo-Christian texts. First and foremost, then, this start comes out of the unnamed, “marked ungrievable” spouse of the prophet Ezekiel, who inspired the character O.