Creative Writing Commons^™

Pride, Annie Shi

Intertext

No abstract provided.

Being A Minority At Syracuse University, Pamela Flores

Intertext

No abstract provided.

Section Intro: (Un)Common Ground, Jung Won Nam, Berri Wilmore

Intertext

No abstract provided.

A Path Unfolding, Sarah Lucille Parris

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

A selection from A Path Unfolding, an original young adult fantasy novel about a girl named Al, who strives to fulfil a prophecy in order to restore the natural order in the magical land of Anthe. Preceded by a critical introduction detailing the genre and craft influences on the work. The novel explores themes of truth and deception, and asks the questions of what, exactly, it means to be a ‘chosen one’.

Initiate, Becca Anderson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

After the sudden death of her father, sixteen-year-old Cal Townsend is sent to live with her estranged maternal grandmother on one of Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands. She soon learns that she is descended from a long line of practicing witches.

Self, Emily Aguayo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is a translation of Dr. Erika Almenara’s complete published collection of poetry. The original publications span a period of over twelve years of work, with books published in 2006, 2008, and 2018. The first book of poetry in this series of translations, Reino Cerrado (Closed Kingdom), explores the profound contemplations of life and how to turn those thoughts into words and put them on paper. We see images of nature, hear faint religious overtones, and feel the distress of a woman searching for a healthy relationship, and having little luck. Para evitar los rastros (To Avoid All Traces), the …

Remote Voices: Outside, Misty Yarnall

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

The Biggest Drill, Carly Sorenson

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

You Don’T Even Live There Anymore, Claire Corbeaux

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Tectonic, Rebecca E. Holifield

Honors Theses

Tectonic is a collection of original poems accompanied by a critical preface.

Living Document: An Exploration Of “Self” Through Lyric & Hybrid Forms, Shannon Sweeney

Honors Theses

In the famously confessional field of creative nonfiction, the question of preserving one’s privacy is perhaps best explored by means of lyrical or hybrid essays; an explorative piece found at the intersection of poetic form and prose, between objective fact and creative presentation, which “sets off on an uncharted course through interlocking webs of idea, circumstance, and language - a pursuit with no foreknown conclusion, [and] an arrival that might still leave the writer questioning,” according to Noam Dorr. This pursuit without strict purpose allows for writers to dissect and discover the intricacies of seemingly straightforward topics: truth, memory, even …

Entre Países, Jared Steiman

Honors Theses

This collection of original poems deals with the unique experience of transnational family, particular to the international and interracial tensions of the years 2014-2020. The works focus on intimate portraits of life in the United States South, the Mexican South, and the relationship between. Love and loss feature prominently. Injustice is sewn throughout. Accompanying the original poems are a number of translations of Octavio Paz and Rosario Castellanos, as well as a craft essay detailing the process of creating this body of work.

Harvest: Poems, Brittney Allen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Louise Glück wrote, “the actual making of art is a revenge on circumstance.” The risk, she goes on, is in the possibility of shame. Writing poetry then becomes an act of courage, purchased with sacrifice or loss. “Courage, in this usage, alludes to a capacity for facing down the dark forces.”

In Harvest, a poetry chapbook, the speaker takes revenge on the circumstances of her life by being blunt, bare, and brave on the page. She contends with a male-dominated society and abusive childhood as she moves into adulthood and the supposed saving grace of a marriage. The speaker confesses …

Eclipsed By Culture, Andrea Diamond

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this thesis is to explore through poetry my conflicted relationship with an abusive, narcissistic father, a father who passed down to me the after-effects of generations of inherited trauma and traditions of patriarchy. In a narrative arc unfolding through domestic scenes and deepened with metaphor, I offer readers the story of my struggle to accept the personal and psychological damage I experienced as a child, to forgive, and to achieve a measure of healing so that my experience might benefit others. Using poetry enabled me to distill elements of my circumstances that, in my lived experience, were …

Poser: The Nexus Of Chicanx And Punk Cinema, Christian Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

By bridging together formal characteristics from Chicanx and Punk cinema, my screenplay “Poser” follows the traditions of many filmmakers, including Jim Mendiola, Efrain Gutierrez, Luis Valdez, and Alex Cox. This thesis first distinguishes the traits that characterize each individual style, followed by the films that inspired my script, to finally how these techniques fit within my own work.

The creative decisions in my screenplay are thus examined through a lens informed by the underlying value of writing a story about marginalized segments of society. Additionally, I offer a close analysis behind the restrained approach of my story, along with the …

"The Thereafter", Allison Stanich

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

‘The Thereafter’ takes place in the fairy-tale world of Olim and focuses on a servant girl Dette as she learns to accept her painful past and her future as the Chosen One to save the world with the help of a cursed prince named Jean and a witch named Hester. The basis of Olim derived from the many different fairy tales that exist and their variations; extensive research revealed that many lighter, romanticized versions of the fairy tales begin with “Once” or “Once Upon a Time,” which served as inspiration for the organization ONCE, a history revisionist group in Olim …

Long For Death., Ashley William Bittner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Long for Death is an urban fantasy novel centered on dysfunctionality, alienation, and the struggle for recognition. Focused as it is on non-traditional and underrepresented characters, the novel contests the social structures that divide society and leave some individuals entirely elided from media. By employing the fraught ethics of no-win situations and the necessary confrontation with the inevitable, the narrative opposes cynical resignation to the powers-that-be, emphasizing that even a doomed battle is preferable to passive acceptance, whether it be to supernatural menace or social construct.

The Prodigy Of Existence: An Essay On Identity And Its Constraints With Original Poems, Azariah Butler Ruthford

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This research essay and collection of poems will highlight key moments in coming to terms with identity. For myself, these identities include race, sexuality, and gender. I have found an expressive outlet through poetry in which I can deduce experiences and make them more approachable for the audience from the perspective of a black, homosexual man. Similarly, Toni Morrison tasks the readers to understand the ways in which identities propose limitations on individuals in her novel, Beloved .The pieces included in this selection will illustrate how life experiences often dictate ones’ identity, and how exploring these differences can inspire both …

The Wild Diamond Diaries: Healing Alongside America's Wild Horses, Megan Emily

All NMU Master's Theses

To some, America’s free-roaming Mustangs and burros symbolize liberty and beauty. To others, these equines are feral at best, invasive at worst. They have a reputation for being useless, destructive, and untrainable. Yet my childhood horse—gifted to my family when I was three—was a gentled Mustang, W.D. Through W.D., I first encountered these horses’ kind dispositions, composure, and hardiness. After my younger sister died in a riding accident with another horse, my parents rehomed W.D. The devastating loss of both my sister and horse sparked my lifelong interest in Mustangs’ lives in the wild and journey into domestication, especially via …

Goal Drought, Stephanie Oesch

All NMU Master's Theses

Goal Drought is a collection of free verse and prose poetry that focuses on the sport of soccer. The collection explores the roles of fans and players within the sport as well as the strategy, concepts, and controversies that make up much of soccer. Beyond just the game, the collection also engages with religious concepts and the more general themes of obsession, desire for community, and the act of participating and watching performances. Physicality and personal experience also play a large role in this work, and the collection mixes both jargon and more casual and conversational language to try and …

Shift: A Brujo Story, Mark A. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

In the distant future, a viral agent that transforms people into monsters has overrun the world. Metropolis domains now dominate the United States, using large walls to keep the dangers from entering inside. But safety is not always a guarantee. A man named Nathan uses his ability as a shape-shifting folkloric creature to make a living as a mercenary for hire in the city he lives in.

Nathan also struggles with his inner turmoil of attempting to live in a society that does not accept him while trying to deal with his past trauma that drives his life. But when …

Willing Beasts, Jose Lujan

Theses and Dissertations

Willing Beasts is a poetry collection that consists of the title poem then is divided into three sections which are named Willing Beasts of Rebellion, Willing Beasts of Desire and Willing Beasts of Groove. The first section titled Willing Beasts of Rebellion consists of poems which are of a rebellious and protest in nature. The second section titled Willing Beasts of Desire consists of poems that more personal in nature and reveal more about my life. The third section titled Willing Beasts of Groove consists of poems which are inspired by the songwriters that have influenced me as …

Pebblechild, Brenda Ochoa

Theses and Dissertations

This collection of short stories depict life moments for people that are connected through the city of Peñitas, Texas. This manuscript begins as an origin story for the city of Peñitas. According to local historians both in the past and in present times, the city of Peñitas was founded by a priest and five other Spaniards. This idea is integrated into the storyline but with a focus on the impact of a young girl, Tala. She suffers immensely through the actions of a group she refers to as the Long Beards. She has to go through a series of discovery …

Drama Del Dia, Eleazar Zuniga Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Drama del día is made up of short plays which will present themes and elements of life along the Rio Grande Valley border between Texas and Mexico. The plays in this work reflect the Chicano culture and attempt to touch on the various themes and conflicts people encounter on daily basis such as domestic, social, and drug cartel violence, corruption, immigration, colonialism and machismo.

A Poetic Ethnodrama: Discussing The Impact Of The Pressure To Publish On Creative Writers' Production, Abby N. Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the presence of the pressure to publish while in college as an undergraduate or graduate student, and the impact that pressure has on students’ ability to produce creative work. After interviewing participants, the researcher created an ethnodrama to best represent participants’ emotions and unique experiences with publishing while in school. An examination of the literature reveals that master’s-level students are often overlooked in scholarly research on the subject of publishing. This study uses a qualitative research method to identify key emotional experiences from students at the master’s and undergraduate level in the hopes of providing a platform …

Espejismo: Imagen En Poemas, Mariela Cedillo

Theses and Dissertations

Espejismo: Imagen en Poemas is a collection of poetry that explores the idea that art – creating poetry can heal trauma wounds. This collection not only tackles the trauma of sexual assault, but the effects of mental health and its recovery. It is meant to portray a full story of womanhood, and all that that embodies. This collection explores these topics through the lens of personal narrative and experience through various poetry forms.

The Criterion Collection, Mackenna Finley

Honors Projects

The Criterion Collection is an examination of truth in fiction and poetry. The goal of this project is not to create truth that is absolute, but instead to allow for the experience of its subjectivity. The interplay between fiction and poetry, reader and author illuminates the subtle warping of truth through human experience.

Blend It Like Beckett: Samuel Beckett And Experimental Contemporary Creative Writing, Sam Nicole Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Samuel Beckett penned novels, short stories, poetry, stage plays, radio plays, and scripts—and he did each in a way that blended genre, challenged the norms of creative writing, and surprised audiences around the globe. His experimental approach to creative writing included the use of absurdism, genre-hybridization, and ergodicism, which led to Beckett fundamentally changing the approach to creative writing. His aesthetics have trickled down through the years and can be seen in contemporary works, including Aimee Bender’s short story collection The Girl in the Flammable Skirt and Mark Z. Danielewski’s novel House of Leaves[1]. By examining these works …

Splitting, Dany Keagan

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Featuring: The Calamity, Alex Simmons

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.