ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the features of Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle’s Autobiography of a Marguerite that make it as valuable as any clinical coursebook to medical students. Published when the poet was 24, the collection tells the story of a young writer, Marguerite, navigating the health system as she seeks treatment for an unnamed chronic pain condition. At her side is her mother, also named Marguerite. The enmeshed nature of the pair’s relationship and the increasing anxiety surrounding the condition’s symptoms and treatment are reflected in the cleverly controlled content and structure of the collection. By means of poetic methods like ambiguity and repetition, Autobiography of a Marguerite allows readers to feel the sort of claustrophobia and uncertainty inherent in her position while also showing her intelligence and resistance in the face of frustration and depersonalization. The book explores what happens when language is all one has left to assert identity and agency. The poet’s own emotionally damaging experiences in the health care system led her to eschew medical care for ten years, resulting in a worsening of her condition. Autobiography of a Marguerite is a clarion call for a medicine that is more holistic, compassionate, and personal.
