When Kelly Davio left Seattle in 2015, she was the most requested name for our Exit Interview series — a tribute to how much this community hated to see her go. We haven't lured her back yet, but she's here this week in spirit to sponsor the site and share an excerpt from her latest book: It's Just Nerves: Notes on a Disability.

Davio is a poet, an essayist, and poetry editor at the Tahoma Literary Review. She also has myasthenia gravis, a disease she examines in It's Just Nerves without self-pity and with zero patience for society's failure to meet her disability halfway. The range of this collection — from personal reflections on the vulnerability of illness to sharp critiques of everything from Britian's NHS to the 2015 AWP meeting in Seattle — is simply stunning. Read "Strong is the new sexy" for a taste, then pick up the book and keep going.

Sponsors like Kelly Davio make the Seattle Review of Books possible. Did you know you could sponsor us, as well? If you have a book, event, or opportunity you’d like to get in front of our readers, send us a note. We’d be delighted to reserve a spot for you.