Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Thirteen Unlikely Stories, Joseph Gray

Dissertations

Thirteen Unlikely Stories is a collection of fiction composed and revised at the

University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers.

Blackletter: Fiction And A Wall Of Precedent, Louis Anthony Di Leo

Dissertations

The eight stories that make up Blackletter explore situations in which people are forced to challenge the legitimacy of authority, rethink and rebuild their own identities, or confront their own involvement in human and environmental degradation. A central theme running throughout the collection is law, broadly, and the ways in which people adhere to or sometimes break from a particular rule, be it social or legislative. In each case, the role of law and its correlation to place and identity—either overt or veiled—serves as a major component of each story. In this way I locate these stories within a sociolegal …

Almost Touching, Almost Free, Dustin M. Hoffman

Dissertations

This collection of stories delves into themes of the working class. These stories of working-class characters range from realism to fabulism to experimental, because the story of working-class people is complex and always shifting. Some of the stories travel backward in time to shepherds and traveling crusaders, while others take on much more contemporary voices, speaking from the point of view of sex workers, carpenters, office workers, ice cream van drivers, and salesmen. If these stories have one thing in common, it is that the characters are searching for identity, for a concrete sense of self that seems to have …

The Holiness And Other Stories, Leslie Michelle Nichols

Dissertations

This dissertation is a collection of an introductory essay and ten original short stories written and submitted to fiction workshops in the PhD program at The University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers.

Monticello Rising, Charles Edward Campbell

Dissertations

Monticello Rising is a compilation of fiction accompanied by a critical preface. The pieces within were all composed during my studies at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers between the years of 2008-2010. The collection is about aspects of growth, initiation, and loss in human relationships.

The Nightingale Of Austerlitz, Lindsay Marianna Walker

Dissertations

The Nightingale of Austerlitz employs poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to articulate the theme of (mis)communication. A pliable, multi-genre approach was necessary to convey the urgency of two central characters’ desire to connect despite the impossibility of doing so. Prose interrupts and challenges the set precision of poetry in order to embody the stops and starts—the literal and figurative breakdowns—of communication. The juxtaposition of genres dramatizes dialogue, silence, affective distance, and desire. Song, sound, repetition (using lullaby, referencing music, thematizing the ear) further assert the power of language as performance and aesthetics as consolation, and provoke a particular kind of attention …

Companionship Through Standard Question And Answer Routines, Ryan Saxon Davidson

Dissertations

Companionship through Standard Question and Answer Routines is a collection of short stories and short shorts dealing with the nature of human relationships and the ways in which people get to know each other.

Room, Vallie Lynn Watson

Dissertations

Room is a short novel written at The University of Southern Mississippi. It is accompanied by a critical preface.