Broken Nose,
2026
DePauw University
Broken Nose, Addison Elliott '29
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Addi Elliott is a writer based in Indiana whose work centers on short creative nonfiction. Through concise, image-driven storytelling, they capture vivid memories and explore family experiences. Drawing from lives, their work reflects storytelling as preservation and reinvention, creating pieces that linger and reveal the quiet complexity beneath everyday moments.
Darjeeling 1967,
2026
DePauw University
Darjeeling 1967, Bibhav Basnet '26
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Bibhav Basnet is a senior from Nepal and is majoring in Mathematics. He regrets this decision greatly and is skeptical if he will ever graduate from college. He is a member of DePauw's Ethics Bowl team, and of Delta Upsilon fraternity.
Disinfected Time,
2026
DePauw University
Disinfected Time, Charles Smith '28
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Charles Smith is a Sophomore Creative Writing major at DePauw University and is from Indianapolis, Indiana. He enjoys writing poems and songs and is inspired by many artists, including Zach Bryan and Ted Kooser. He enjoys playing guitar and spending time with friends.
Independence Bleeds,
2026
DePauw University
Independence Bleeds, Cole Jacob '27
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Cole is a junior Economics student and Management Fellow at DePauw University. He draws inspiration from his family, the natural world, and stories passed down through generations. His favorite poet is Robert Wrigley. Cole enjoys hiking, camping, and everything outdoors.
Microbes Among A Decapitated Rabbit,
2026
DePauw University
Microbes Among A Decapitated Rabbit, Isaiah Morgan '26
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Justus Morgan is a Song major in his senior year at DePauw. He is delighted by those places beyond the expanding frontiers of his knowledge and writes about everything from not falling in love to imaginary wetlands to that one look from Margiela's S/S 1990 runway show. He recommends skygazing.
Mondays At Moore's,
2026
DePauw University
Mondays At Moore's, Jane Duffy '26
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Jane Duffy is an English Writing and Studio Art double major at Depauw University. She is a painter, a creative writer, and the Editor-in-chief of A Midwestern Review for her fourth year of involvement. She enjoys hiking, drinking coffee, travelling, and creating things inspired by observation of the world around her.
Tiger Stripes,
2026
DePauw University
Tiger Stripes, Ruby Tugeau '28
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Ruby Tugeau is a sophomore at DePauw University majoring in Global Health and Women's & Gender Studies! She enjoys long hikes in the nature park, oldies music, and warm soup. Ruby's been writing all her life and wants to thank AMWR for allowing her to share her work!
Weeping,
2026
DePauw University
Weeping, Roee Sela '27
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Roee is a Junior Biochemistry major and Creative Writing minor at DePauw University. He plays Men's Tennis and plans to attend medical school after graduating. He enjoys cooking, reading, and the outdoors.
On Mild Weather,
2026
DePauw University
On Mild Weather, Morgan Tharp '26
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Morgan Tharp is a Senior English-Writing and Political Science double major. In her free time, she enjoys running for DePauw's cross country and track teams and reading.
How To Live Alone,
2026
DePauw University
How To Live Alone, Cora Gibson '27
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Cora is a rising senior at DePauw with a double major in pre-engineering and environmental geoscience, and a minor in math. Outside of rocks and integrals, she loves strong coffee, knitted sweaters, and a head back laugh with friends.
Lion,
2026
DePauw University
Lion, Ruby Tugeau '28
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Ruby Tugeau is a sophomore at DePauw University majoring in Global Health and Women's & Gender Studies! She enjoys long hikes in the nature park, oldies music, and warm soup. Ruby's been writing all her life and wants to thank AMWR for allowing her to share her work!
Monster,
2026
DePauw University
Monster, Melissa Butler '29
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Melissa (Mel) Butler is a rising sophomore Pre-med Biochem major from Chicago, IL. She is also a spoken word artist working in mental health and social justice activism. She hopes that her poetry will remind people that they are never alone and that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
Produce,
2026
DePauw University
Produce, Chelsea Parsley '28
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University
Chelsea Parsley is a sophomore Creative Writing major at DePauw University. She enjoys drawing, writing, singing, and accumulating obscure pieces of trivia.
Microcosms & Warscapes,
2026
University of Texas at El Paso
Microcosms & Warscapes, Heather J. Lathers
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
This poetry collection features sensory-centered writing and common objects, scenes, and interactions to authentically capture the multi-perspective and nuanced experiences of wartime. Detailed language is critical when poets become mouthpieces for those enduring war's pain. Focusing closely on items such as teacups, boots, bones, mud, rice, and rats creates a kind of intimacy not often found in war writing. Specific conflicts addressed include World War I, Vietnam, and The Cambodian Genocide. The poems here, in various forms and voices, aim to spotlight the lost, marginalized, abused, and forgotten-- the much-needed humanity war stories tend to neglect. Ultimately, these pieces seek …
Daughters Of The Road,
2026
University of Texas at El Paso
Daughters Of The Road, Kristen Marie Sche
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
The beloved Road Novel has long been a tale submerged in the coming-of-age story following men as they search for themselves along the American highways. The genre can vary from journeys of families seeking refuge or tackling a task to men seeking answers to something missing in their lives. However eclectic the genre, it lacks in the pilgrimage of girls finding what the road can bring to them in a literary fictional context. This thesis provides a novel written in the popular genre while exploring themes of sisterhood, grief, and inclusion through the context of a hybrid form of narration …
How To Make Tamales: Stories,
2026
University of Texas at El Paso
How To Make Tamales: Stories, Jeanette Colby
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
In all its intersectionality, I see my thesis as a female journey of identity and maturation. A common theme in my writing always leads back to my upbringing in some way; my history, memories, and beliefs inevitably plague the storytelling animal that lives within me. These different kinds of narratives represent all the parts of my identity. At the same time, the fictional scenes allow me to dramatize and interpret specific life events, while the mythic narratives provide a symbolic framework for exploring psychological and spiritual truths that might transcend conventional logic. Almost all of these pieces reflect various aspects …
Whirlpoole: A Creative Thesis And Analysis Of Creating Fiction From Real Life Experiences,
2026
University of Texas at El Paso
Whirlpoole: A Creative Thesis And Analysis Of Creating Fiction From Real Life Experiences, Holly Marie Cesario
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
N/A
H.A.G.S.,
2026
University of Arkansas-Fayetteville
H.A.G.S., Erin Pinkham
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
H.A.G.S (Have A Great Summer) The book transports the reader into a Y2K southern suburban landscape, influenced by Texas Megachurches, the height of the shopping mall era, and the upcoming and ever present loom of the internet. It narrates through this world by diving in and out of a younger and older voice. A voice that remains in the present tense as it searches through the speaker’s understanding and observance of the world around them and the danger looming over their young girl body. This book looks to uncover these moments where we as young girls might better understand why …
The Incredible Is,
2026
Stephen F. Austin State University
The Incredible Is, Justin L. Hughes
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Incredible Is is a full-length philosophical play in two acts that follows Self — a man whose body contains the visible cosmos — as he travels existence with his companion Cosmic Cat in search of his creator, the "Ultimate Personifier." Along the way he encounters personified abstractions including You, Them, We, Power, Pleasure and Pain, Creator and Destroyer, and falls in love with Magic. When his obsession with finding his maker leads him to break the Rules and plunge the universe into chaos, God resets reality and Self at last confronts the Ultimate Personifier — only to discover a …
The Illusion Of Absence,
2026
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The Illusion Of Absence, Abraham K. Ali
Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
The Illusion of Absence is a collection of thirty poems with a critical introduction that examines the poetic legacy of paternal absence and the reconfiguration of family in Africa and diasporic narratives. I grew up in Nigeria without my father. His absence has shaped my understanding of love, silence, manhood, and home. This manuscript is an exploration of the lasting legacy of my father’s absence and its place within an exploration of masculinity within the broader context of the African and diasporic experience. My mother became the focal point within the home as she brought cohesion and unity within the …
