Creative Writing Commons^™

Contributor Bios

The John Carroll Review

No abstract provided.

Contents

The John Carroll Review

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Emily M.M. Rogers

The John Carroll Review

No abstract provided.

The Internal Compass, Joshua Dyer

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Secrets On Morgan Hill: A Story Of An Unlikely Friendship Amid An Apartheid South, Camille Kleidysz-Ferreira

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

Introduction

The Burden of History and Fiction

“How much of the burden of history can fiction bear?” – Margaret Walker

Comprehensive historical research can often become the inspiration for art. The greatest pieces of historical fiction, are a result of years of historic scholarship before the creation of a compelling historical narrative or fiction piece. Through my two-year ethnographic study and collection of oral histories of the black community, surrounding the historic Bethel A.M.E. church in Acworth, Georgia, I was told a story about a friendship between two little girls who remained friends until the end of their lives. What …

Highway 11: A Memoir, Judy Benowitz

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

When my sister, Valerie, committed suicide, I looked back to the choices we made and wrote this book. Highway 11 is the title of my 60,000 word memoir. I grew up on that swath of road between Monroe and Winder, Georgia. It was a whiskey soaked, Southern Baptist upbringing, in a blue collar family. I moved away, as soon as I bought a car, while Valerie got pregnant in high school and lived in Monroe all her life with her husband and two children.

My first stop was Atlanta, in 1969, for the “Age of Aquarius,” where I was a …

Patient Zero, Crystal Ramos

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

A screenplay, "Patient Zero" is about Lillian contracting a zombie-like virus and the efforts of two people who love her, Jenna and Bill, to save her. The movie explores the binary opposites of heterosexual and homosexual love and how Jenna and Bill show their love for Lillian. In addition the impact of sexual abuse and rape are shown and the zombie transformation works as a metaphor for sexual abuse.

The Creative Voice--Dialogue Between Writer And Editor: A Portfolio, Valerie M. Mathews

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

An author's voice does not venture into the wild west alone; it rides with a full posse. On the surface of a published piece of work, the author appears to be the lone genius; yet, underneath in multilayers of revisions and conversations that carry an author's voice over the rooftops of the world, voice is an intimate communal affair. As an editor, I view co-creation as embodying the push-and-pull relationship that forms between writer and reader, including the editor. A good editor pulls out the best sound from the author even when the manuscript is a wild, caterwauling animal. An …

Preserve Her Form, Hannah Morgan

Student Research Submissions

Nature versus nurture? Both principles recognize a facet of inheritance that dictates the development of personhood: there is genetic inheritance and there is acquired inheritance. I have used poetry to grapple with the narrative of my late sister and how her death became an acquired inheritance. Meaningful as it was to write through grief, I came to resent how her body -- the color of her hair, the tattoos -- became incessant images in my poems, like a default. I doubted whether I could write without her, my inescapable inheritance. This project explores the inheritance of bodies and faith, and …

The Founding Farce, Or, The Lost Debates Of The Constitutional Convention: Being An Account Of The Discovery Of An Overlooked Document, And The Loss Again, And Rediscovery Of Said Document, Wherein Is Written Unheard Proceedings In The Crafting Of The Glorious Constitution Of These 13 Colonies (Which Has Lately Been Misplaced), Alexander W. Pickens

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The Constitutional Convention was shrouded in mystery, yet America has been confidently given a narrative of what went on behind closed doors in Philadelphia. Though most of our authentic records of what went on were written by men assumed to be reliable, the deeper one reads into history the more unreliable they become, recent evidence even suggesting that James Madison altered his notes on the Convention years after it was concluded. What if our perception of history is flawed and the Convention was not the glorious meeting of intellectual giants but instead a town hall full of immature behemoths who …

Creative Advertising Portfolio, Hayley E. Sunderman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since I was a young child, all I wanted was to draw and write. I would compose entire binders of my artwork, as well as Microsoft Word documents of the beginnings of mystery novels. As I grew older, I let my self-doubt take over and I convinced myself that I was not talented enough to pursue any type of creative career path. I came into college as a Marketing major knowing that my future career options would be fairly vast. During my junior year, I realized my strong desire to work in creative advertising. Graphic design, copywriting, photography, videography, and …

Girls Are Us: A Collection Of Oral Histories From The Jmu Community, Anne M. Sherman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On a campus where women make up a majority of the student population, it is especially important that female voices are heard and given a platform on which they can control their own narrative. I wanted to give those female-identifying voices that platform. I conducted a series of interviews to examine how college-aged female-identifying students feel about their identity and how they construct that identity within the climate of the JMU community. I was particularly interested in the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, and ability. I asked each person to share their stories of times when they …

Phobophobia: A Study In Fear, Rebecca C. Josephson

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This thesis is the poetic culmination of a creative writing study in fear. Though here it only consists of the written word, the thesis was the content of an artists book of the same study.

Write Place At The Write Time: A Study Of How Writing Contexts Affect Rates Of Productivity And Perceptions Of Success In Creative Writing, Sydnie R. Long

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This research explores the writing contexts of a few creative writers in an effort to learn more about the habits and conditions with which creative writers prefer to work. My goal is to observe how different contexts affect the success or productivity a writer experiences. I will build my project off the central question, is there a correlation between writing contexts and success in writing? From there, I will divide the project into three subsections guided by four subquestions aiming to explore where and how writers write, and gain an insight to their views on what success and productivity mean …

Where Are You From: Essays On Finding Home, Georgia Knapp

Creative Nonfiction MFA Theses

"Where Are You From?" is an essay collection that seeks to answer the question of where someone is from. Their birthplace or the last place that they lived? The place where they have lived the longest, or the place that they identify with most with? The eleven essays in this collection engage these questions and others in an attempt to reconcile the author's deep-seated and pervasive sense of dislocation. In settings ranging from the Shetland Islands to Greece to Chicago, this collection explores what it means to call a place home––or not.

First 100 Days: Two Trump Heads Are Better Than One?, Marleen S. Barr

Publications and Research

This is a satirical short story about Trump.

Life Is Not A Pro/Con Proposition: A Review Of Kassi Underwood’S “May Cause Love”, Melanie Springer Mock

Faculty Publications - Department of English

Excerpt: "In many ways, contemporary abortion debates have managed to do just that: objectifying women who have abortions by politicizing their experiences. May Cause Love compellingly reveals that life doesn’t always follow ideology, as Adichie says, and that sometimes, when faced with a monumental decision, women need support, guidance, and a safe community who will listen closely, rather than judge harshly. Because every woman’s story about abortion has the power to change the world, if only we have the ears, and the heart, to listen."

Randoms

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

The Artist

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Final Offerings

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.