Creative Writing Commons^™

Girls Are Coming Out Of The Woods (Title Taken From Tishani Doshi), Jillian Canady

Persimmon Creek

This evocative haiku, inspired by Tishani Doshi’s poem, Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods, beautifully captures the essence of resilience and emergence. It portrays women as powerful forces, symbolized by roaring fires and vibrant sunsets, evoking warmth and intensity. The detail of "pink painted toes" adds a playful yet bold touch, blending femininity with strength. This concise piece invites readers to reflect on the dynamic spirit of women stepping into their own, embodying both elegance and fierce determination.

Warmth, Brandi E. Shuler

Persimmon Creek

The short story Warmth is about an unnamed character who encounters a violent fire elemental. It is an experimental piece about what it feels like to experience a traumatic burn and what the character went through afterward.

Undefinitive, Lan Mu

MFA in Visual Art

My thesis project, Undefinitive, examines the cyclical process of destruction, transformation, and rebirth through installation, ceramics, and text. With a deep unease toward my own gendered body, I investigate how vulnerability, both physical and psychological, can become a site of resistance and empowerment. Drawing from feminist theory, Chinese mythology, and stream-of-consciousness narratives, my work explores the monstrous and the fragmented as inseparable states of one’s becoming. Through references to body art, speculative fiction, and queer theory, I reimagine femininity and queerness as forces capable of dismantaling societal structure and forging new modes of existence.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world where …

Imaginary Friends: Engaging The Unconscious Mind Through Picture Books, Cleonique Hilsaca

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

“Imaginary Friends” investigates the potential of the ‘imaginary friend’ as a narrative device in picture book storytelling. By combining the research of Marjorie Taylor on ‘imaginary companions’ and Lois Rostow Kuznets on ‘toy animals’ in literature, I seek to give form to the concept of the imaginary friend, to then explore the phenomenon further by delving into the intellectual heritage of the imaginary and the unconscious mind. To explain how the imaginary friend works as a visual metaphor in illustrated narratives, I borrow principles of image-making and their effect on children, as discussed by Martin Salisbury, Morag Styles, and Molly …

Transmutation, Sam Berger

MFA in Visual Art

My artistic practice is about change itself. I am inspired by the doubling and layering effects that came out of Surrealist Photography. Scale, fracture, and doubling are intentional components of my process. I combine those methods to create complex works of art, focusing on the untamable light that I hope to capture when making my images, which often are self portraits. Poetry is an integral element of this thesis text as well as my art making process. Through my poetic work I hope to offer my audience a glimpse into how I see and experience the world. This thesis text …

How Kirby’S Return To Dream Land Deluxe Subverts Narrative Expectations, Kelley I. Hale

Aurora

The Kirby series has been around for over 30 years, and very little has been done to research it. This is a shame, as I believed (and still do believe) the series has a lot to offer in terms of research. For this paper, I analyzed Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, a Switch remake of the Wii game Kirby's Return to Dream Land. I analyzed the cutscenes found within the game using fantasy theme criticism. I did this to explore how the game subverts narrative expectations, as well as show that Kirby games have value when it comes to …

Two Fawns, Siena Maciej

Studio One

In 1978, Patricia and Leonard Percello endowed this prize to honor Patricia’s parents, Louis and Mary Wagner-Berger, and to support college students who are interested in writing short stories and novels. It is designed to encourage and reward excellence in creative writing at the College of Saint Benedict. The Wagner-Berger Prize for fiction is the first scholarship of its kind at the College of Saint Benedict. It is a scholarship awarded annually to the CSB student who submits the most original, previously unpublished short story. All submissions are judged by a committee of English & Creative Writing Department members, and …

We Are Not Birds, Vicki Roberts

Studio One

No abstract provided.

The Painting, Hannah Gouge

Studio One

No abstract provided.

Voices, Julie A. Ferraro

Studio One

No abstract provided.

Just In Case, Daniel Dahlquist

Studio One

No abstract provided.

2019-At A Refugee Center In Tijuana, A Man Prepares His Plea For Asylum, Thomas Nelson

Studio One

No abstract provided.

Mothers Plus Babies Are "Othered" [A Kouta], Gerard Sarnat

Studio One

No abstract provided.

Tv Eye, John Grey

Studio One

No abstract provided.

Provenance, Jan Wiezorek

Studio One

No abstract provided.

Circe, Timothy Dodd

Studio One

No abstract provided.

The Wizard Of Words, Lindaann Loschiavo

Studio One

No abstract provided.

The Art Of Restraint, James B. Nicola

Studio One

No abstract provided.

Of Course I'M Doing None Of These Things, Philip Athans

Studio One

No abstract provided.

People Pleaser, Teresa Kopecky

Studio One

No abstract provided.