Creative Writing Commons^™

Fragments Of The Human Condition: A Collection Of Short Stories, Daniel R. Mangru

MFA in Creative Writing | Master's Theses

Fragments of the Human Condition: A Collection of Short Stories is a culminating thesis by Daniel R. Mangru that explores the intricate complexities of the human experience through the mundane details of ordinary lives.

Drawing inspiration from the works of Raymond Carver and Rod Serling, this collection of short stories, which includes A Cow on Mars and A Boy and his Donut, offers fragments of an answer to the fundamental question: "What was it like to be human?"

The thesis examines universal themes such as resilience, intimacy, compassion, loneliness, structure, and independence, demonstrating how these aspects of the human …

Shedding, Emerging; A Rebirth, Christina Van Dueck

English and Creative Writing | Senior Theses

This thesis is a collection of poems; divided into two parts, the first section intimately explores physicality and essence through graphic writing, inspired by Emerson’s work that is deeply rooted in transcendentalism, idealism, and the divinity of nature. The second part of the collection breathes life into the first through an introspection of naturalistic elements based on linguistic tactility. Inspired by Emily Dickinson, this collection embodies complex celestial imagery to display the abstractness of presence and detachment. Both collections comment on the interconnectedness of human nature in its rawest form and seek to encapsulate a soulful display of the innate …

Metaphors For Metamorphosis: The Poetics Of Kenosis And The Apophasis Of Self In Saint John Of The Cross, George Faithful

Social Justice | Faculty Scholarship

Spanish mystic Saint Juan (John) of the Cross (1542–1591) began writing poetry while imprisoned by his own monastic order. He developed manuals for contemplation, in part, in the form of commentaries on his principal poems. Their first-person narrators were women who underwent metamorphoses in order to pursue love: one became a dove in her despair; another became flame itself; the last disguised herself as a knight. Juan explained that all three represented the soul that is seeking God. For readers, these metaphors could engender cognitive dissonance, through which they might step outside of themselves and move closer to union with …

The River Flowing, Bailey Storm

English and Creative Writing | Senior Theses

This piece is set in Kittery Point, ME, where my cousins lived, a place in which I spent many summers growing up. I define these summers as pinpoints in my youth that helped me discover the first touches of independence away from my home in Pennsylvania. All of the time I spent alone was prominent for what I remember of this time. I was incredibly shy and detached from my cousins' friends. Though I loved being a young teenager in Maine, I could never quite grasp the social life similar to Wyatt when he is back home in Kittery from …

Cycles Of Life, Maggie Ellis

English and Creative Writing | Senior Theses

“Before,” “In Existence,” “After,” is a collection of poetry that explores the cyclical nature of human existence through three distinct phases. Each section reflects a unique aspect of life’s journey: “Before” imagines a pre-existence state where souls reside in stillness, untouched by pain or desire; “In Existence” captures the raw experience of living, from birth to growth, struggle, and loss; and “After” reflects on endings, transformation, and the possibility of rebirth. While the poems draw from personal experiences, they are crafted to evoke universal emotions, inviting readers to confront themes of fear, hope, love, and grief. The collection is inspired …

Reflections Of The Long Light: Poems And Images, Foad Satterfield, Kimberly Satterfield

Faculty Authored Books

Over the course of the last year this project has deepened and expanded in scope. What began as an effort to create a platform to jointly share our creative efforts has shaped itself into an attestation of our lives together. It is a testimony to our individual and shared commitments to our work, to our family and friends, to our communities, and most importantly, to our forty-year relationship with each other—personal and shared spiritual relationship.

Ultimately, this work is an ever-unfolding love story and a reflection of the long light of living and being.

We are seekers committed to a …

Pandemic Memory Project: Student Reflections On The Covid-19 Pandemic Of 2020, Javier Acosta, Jazylina Albelda, Stella Artukovich, Carter Bell, Tyler Bernius, Hailey Butcher, Janelle Feraro, Declan O'Flynn, Trinity Formalejo, Abigail Garcia, Jason Halpren, Jasmin Mazarlegos-Rodas, Citlaly Molina, Armando Munoz, Sophia Portillos, Alaiyah San Juan, Leslie Solorio, Sven Zalmovic, Adrianna Torres, Brooke Vafi, Saul Valle, Deepalakshmi Vanaraja, Olivia Wynn, Yoselin Calderon, Alycia Carrasco, Pj Volz, Nanik Tangore, Aaron Richardson

History and Political Science | Pandemic Memory Project

"The Pandemic Memory Project," is the work of students in Making of Today: Contemporary World History from Fall term, 2023. It is a poignant and insightful e-book collection that documents both American and international student experiences of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Through a series of reflective essays, students candidly share their memories and reflections on the profound impact of the pandemic as it affected various aspects of their lives.

Spanning the periods before, during, and after the pandemic, these essays offer a rich tapestry of personal narratives that explore the complexities of learning, friendships, and personal identity amid unprecedented challenges. …

The Life And Times Of Anita Mattie Cummings Young, Linda Delane

Literary and Intercultural Studies | Senior Theses

“The Life and Times of Anita Mattie Cummings Young” is a memoir about my mother’s life growing up in Los Angeles, California, during a tumultuous time for African Americans in the country. During my research I discovered additional information about her grandmother that showed me who inspired her to become the woman she was.

The Acorn Contains The Oak, Bettina Jefferis

Literary and Intercultural Studies | Senior Theses

“The Acorn Contains the Oak” combines memoir and poems to explore a journey of healing intergenerational trauma.

Cochise: A Re-Imagination, Arthur Scott

Faculty Authored Books and Book Contributions

This is a fictionalized work that looks at Cochise’s life, through a series of imagined scenarios. My intention in writing this was to provide an intimate venue by which he not only comes alive as an extraordinary warrior and sage archetype, but as a human being who struggled with doubt, loss, and fear. Leadership, honesty, and honor are important themes that Cochise’s life exemplified. Though soft spoken, he imparted volumes on leadership to his people and enemies through his spiritual, emotional, and physical presence.

Plot To Kill The President: A Novel, Arthur Scott, Brian Heath

Faculty Authored Books and Book Contributions

I was always skeptical of The Warren Report as were countless other Americans over the decades.

I was reenergized to look more closely at November 22,1963, by a chance encounter with Brian heath, a JFK aficionado, who had made some startling discoveries about the assassination. He had studied meticulously the Nix film and concluded that the fatal shot came from within the presidential limousine from the driver, William Greer. Similarly, that many of JFK’s cabinet members consisted of former OSS spooks, who dominated the CIA, and were major spokesman for the national security state and America’s global dominance.

They saw …

Naruto And Naruto: Shippuden Through The Lens Of Campbell’S Monomyth, Victor Ayon

Literary and Intercultural Studies | Senior Theses

“Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden through the lens of Campbell’s Monomyth” is a comparative analysis of the anime television series Naruto (2002-2007 Japan, 2005-2009 USA) and its sequel Naruto: Shippuden (2007-2017 Japan, 2009-2019 USA) with Joseph Campbell’s monomyth as delineated in his The Hero with the Thousand Faces. These Japanese anime television series that are considered one of the most popular worldwide, and yet the hero’s quest in each series is often overlooked. This study both compares and contrasts how the Campbellian stages of monomyth intersect with Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden animation narratives.

Shadowcrest Manor, Michaela Bishop

The Tuxedo Archives

A soft cold breeze flowed throughout the whole house, it carried the scent of the Sea Island cotton and seawater, taking away the smell of dust and stillness. Shadowrest Manor was to become our new home here in Charleston. The manor had been vacant for a while since its last owner had passed away and leaving no will or surviving heir, the plantation was shut down. The outside was a little bit weather damaged however, Father is having the whole house repainted a colonial white, the front columns will be a nice off white to balance the main color. The …

Looking Backward While Pushing Forward, Rebecca Elizabeth Van Horn

The Tuxedo Archives

“We’re so old, Becky. Becky, we are so old.” This palindromic couplet came from the ex-boyfriend I hadn’t seen in over ten years. We had been in a brief and mildly dysfunctional relationship ten years before that, back when I was twenty and he was thirty. We had remained friends after our breakup and, after a few years absence, regained contact through the contemporary perpetual This is Your Life-esque reunion of social media.

Behave, Gina Vucci

The Tuxedo Archives

Serve the guests. Don’t cry. Take your brother for a walk. Your father was such an incredible man. Your father loved you. You were his favorite. I’ll just let everyone else cry while I learn to live with this feeling in the pit of my stomach. Leave her alone. It’s fine if she wants to wear her red velvet dress from last Christmas. She can wear what she wants to the funeral. Touch his hand; it’s the last time you’ll ever see him. I don’t know you, but I can’t stop sobbing in your arms.

On The Way Of Being A Penguin, Sophie Lee

The Tuxedo Archives

It’s been about three weeks since I came here, to Dominican as an exchange student. My life here is monotonous but interesting, demanding but refreshing, and solitary but too precious. Right now, I am still adjusting to my life. I want to keep this time in my life everlasting by writing it in my laptop. I believe what I am writing will bring me here, and now, whenever I read this. Then, let me start.

Eclipse, Cameron Almeida

The Tuxedo Archives

You might find me at the end of my days perched on the shoreline at sunset. Some rocky overlook where the wind can blow away smoke from fire. The last embers of my life burn like a fickle memory in a nearby hole I dug, small licks of heat dancing in air brined with salt of the earth. Knowledge that these coals will fade makes me wish to have gone out brilliantly, a blaze of glory instead of here, timing the spread of painkillers in my blood with the increasingly aggressive tide. Because that’s what this is, a small beacon …

Wisdom And Superstition, Maribel Anchordoqui

The Tuxedo Archives

Don’t laugh too much or something sad will happen.

If you see a bean on the floor, pick it up or you’ll be sterile.

When pulling weeds, always talk kindly to the poison oak and let them know you will remove them so that other plants can grow. Guarantee you will never get poison oak.

Never Have I Ever Felt So Alive As This, Aria Watson

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Go Down To The Water, Aria Watson

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

A Watering Can, Aria Watson

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Exquisite Corpse, Tuxedo Literature And Arts Journal

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

How Can I Write When Everything Is Wrong?, Maurisha Nicole Briggs

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Life, Eamonn Mccarthy

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Roses From Bolivia, Jeffrey Wincek

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

To The Lighthouse, Bri Wilson

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Mija, Iris Brito-Stevens

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Coffee, Yvonne Bamba

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Add, Jeffrey Wincek

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Melatonin And Other Things My Dog Ate: A True Story, Claire Schwartz

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.