Creative Writing Commons^™

"Inwombed" Expressions Of Anxiety: Myhth, Humor, And The Absurd, Jonathan Taylor

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Abstract poetry collection.

"Say What You Can't" By Nick Oliveri, Nicholas Oliveri

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

As a writer, Yeorbin both benefited from and competed against artificial intelligence. He shivered a bit but maintained a painful interest in what the video had to say. He thought it ironic that computer scientists were some of the first ones to suffer from artificial intelligence’s jet sweep of human labor. They’re supposed to be the anointed ones. Software engineers are supposed to be the ones with the guaranteed jobs. What’s happening?

I Wrote This Instead Of Being Productive, Timothy Hill

Honors Scholar Theses

"I Wrote This Instead of Being Productive" is a poetry chapbook focused on the mythos of productivity in our modern era, from the perspective of a college student. What does productivity mean at the end of an empire? In recent years, culture has become obsessed with new forms of productivity and time management. We optimize our schedules, compete against each other, and attempt to dissociate from the harsher realities of our lives. An omnipresent internet culture motivates us to generate more value from our time, even if it feels hollow. ‘Scientific’ explanations point towards dopamine deficits and cultural narratives emphasize …

Corre Y Se Va: A Collection Of Ramblings, Daniella Arredondo

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores womanhood, death, and life writings. Through various pieces of nonfiction writings and poetic writings, this thesis reacts to each theme by making a personal connection to certain moments in the narrator’s life. From the Me-Too moment to a tonsil removal, the narrator situates the thesis as a reactive piece to works like “Borderlands/La Frontera” by Gloria Anzaldúa, nonfiction works, like Chanel Miller’s “Know My Name,” and various news articles around events that relate to each theme. The selections of the themes stem from Loteria, a popular bingo-like game within Hispanic culture. The use of these images creates …

The Impracticality Of Silk, Jo A. Reyes

Theses and Dissertations

In the impracticality of silk, the author examines and critiques the world through poetry and prose poetry, specifically addressing gender, sexuality, relationships, the borderlands, and canonized art as they view it to foment a new understanding and voice during a time of societal and personal shifts. Further complicating the author’s understanding are questions around desire both within reclaimed sensuality and within Audre Lorde’s larger understanding of desire as foundational and necessary in creation and liberation, and Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s use of autohistoria-teoria and her work within borderlands as ways toward reevaluating and reclaiming identity and place in the larger world. …

A Phenomenological Study Of Latina Poets As Leaders At Higher Education Institutions, Rodney Gomez

Theses and Dissertations

This interpretive phenomenological study addresses the underrepresentation of Latinas in higher education leadership roles by focusing on the lived experiences of Latina poets who have served as higher education leaders. Data, collected through semi-structured participant interviews and participant writing samples, was analyzed through a standard method of thematic analysis. Latin American and U.S. theories of decoloniality and Yosso’s community cultural capital guided interpretation of participant experiences. Five themes emerged from the analysis: border negation, foundational values, othered leadership, importance of community, and writing as necessity. Discussion of participation experiences suggests that ways that poetry and creative writing can be used …

(De)Composition: Earthen Storytelling For Collective Liberation, Priya Subberwal

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This interdisciplinary portfolio is an investigation into ecological communication through pedagogical design, online collaborative learning spaces, digital and print media, and creative writing. Braiding lenses of queer ecology, decolonial studies, anarchism, and collaborative and creative practice, this work hopes to explore the field of environmental communication through avenues that are reciprocal, community-driven, and oriented towards environmental justice and collective, intersectional liberation. Through the three distinct components of 1) the creation and facilitation of an online learning community, the Spiritual Ecology Study Club at Advaya, 2) the editing and production of two issues of Camas Magazine, an environmental literary magazine based …

Fragile: Handle With Care A Conversation On Trauma, Flashbacks, And Seeing A Therapist When You Need One, Gloria Aragon

All Theses

The primary content of this creative thesis is a complete manuscript titled Fragile. This is a work of realistic fiction with a central theme of childhood trauma. Additionally, this thesis contains a critical essay entitled, “Moving On: A Discussion on Flashbacks and Childhood Trauma in Fiction”.

Depths Of Perception, Connor Matthews

All Theses

This thesis contains the first four chapters of a novel named Depths of Perception (working title), as well as a short critical essay detailing the process of creating the chapters as well as other literary influences that impacted the construction of the work. The focus of this thesis is on the use of shifting point of view to tell a story from a multitude of character’s perspectives. While this is not a new concept, I aim to derive a deeper understanding of the importance of being able to access the perspectives of a large cast of characters. Allowing the reader …

“Caroline”: Deviance In Southern Women’S Poetry, Sage Aspyn Short

All Theses

Deviance in Southern women’s poetry can be characterized by uncertainty, religious images, and through the telling of stories often unheard of, forgotten, or erased, like racial and gendered violence. Glenis Redmond’s poetry in The Listening Skin and What My Hand Say both explore Southern womanhood alongside race, history, violence, illness, and legacy, among other themes and topics. In Caroline: Poems some deviances include religious metaphors alongside obsessive compulsive disorder, excessive cursing from a woman speaker, and historical graveyard musings. Critical texts about lyric theory and voice provide some background and historical significance to be used in this contemporary study and …

The Grove, Sabrina Blanchard

All Theses

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Storytelling In Interior Design: A Hospitality Case Study Based On Avatar: The Last Airbender, Katelyn Isaacson Bauer

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Storytelling can function as a crucial element in interior design, offering a powerful means to captivate and engage individuals within a space. The allure of storytelling lies in its ability to evoke emotions, convey messages, and create memorable experiences. Humans are naturally drawn to narratives that transport them to different worlds, evoke nostalgia, or inspire. This fascination with storytelling has led to a notable increase in themed spaces across various industries, from amusement parks and hotels to restaurants and retail spaces. The integration of storytelling into interior design not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of a space but also serves …

Lake Mead: A Living Museum, Marley Salveter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lake Mead, the largest man-made water project in the nation and a prolific source of electricity, irrigation, and recreation for much of the western population, is currently experiencing a drastic transformation. Amid the ongoing water crisis parching the west, the once overflowing reservoir is consistently shrinking, descending into depths historically uncharted.

While serving as a bleak demonstration of climate change’s effects, the body of water is simultaneously assuming an alternative role that may be less apparent to the public. As water levels decline, Lake Mead is actively metamorphosing into a “Living Museum”, by gradually unveiling previously submerged artifacts. As a …

Winter's Threads., Andrew Wesley Messer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

WINTER’S THREADS is a fiction novel set in a world of fantasy and wonder, largely inspired by the works of such auspicious and acclaimed writers as JRR Tolkien and Andrezj Sapkowski. The fantastical setting allows the reader to view a mystic world that deals with the humanity and beauty found in all things, utilizing pastoral imagery and humanistic language. The goals of this novel are to create an enticing world with magic and lore, as well as a compelling and relevant narrative that tackles themes of injustice, family, and duty. Challenging the racial essentialism that can often be present in …

The Impersonation Artist: A Novel With Critical Afterword: Displacement And Dissent In Fiction And Art., Flora K. Schildknecht

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of a creative project, The Impersonation Artist: A Novel, and a critical afterword, “Displacement and Dissent in Fiction and Art.” On a narrative level, The Impersonation Artist engages the question of how, and if, participatory art can reveal and intervene in oppressive conditions. The novel employs a stylistic methodology in which the use of multiple narrators and narrative fragmentation formally gestures toward the complex dilemma of how artists might intervene in contemporary problems in the face of conflicting ideologies and ever increasing precarity. The novel follows three characters: an environmental activist; a young man veering towards …

Hidalga, Jennifer Delgadillo

Graduate Thesis Collection

"Hidalga" is a collection of eight short fiction stories featuring Mexican women. Some of the stories take place in Mexico and some in the U.S., others in imagined spaces that borrow cultural flavors and symbols from memories of growing up in the north of Mexico as acknowledgement of the liminal identities that are born from immigration.

Through blending humor and sensuality with serious matters like classism and sexism, the stories in "Hidalga" ask questions about morality and social rules with tender empathy for each character.

In "Hidalga," the story after which the collection is named, a failed high school student …

Killdeer, Elizabeth Muscari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project investigates, through poetry, how women and nature intersect. Formal decisions depict themes of inheritance and the body through couplets, tercets, quatrains, contrapuntal, sonnets, among other free-verse forms.

Love Like Damocles, Kashi Bakshani

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

My Grandfather Taught Me How To Read, Diana Morley

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Platoon Manager // The Pagan, Cielo N. Howell

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Julia, Anna Lanze

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Revolving Doors, What Have I Done?, Jenna Coburn

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Raise The Dead, Kendall Cruise

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Shelter, Martin Dolan

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Wheatstalk, Brianna Gamble

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Thanksgiving Conversations, Madolley Donzo

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

An Interview With Kristen Gentry, Jess Marinaro

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Twilight, Holly Michelsen

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Bread Blue Planet // Whole Again, Stella Gleitsman

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Seeking The Unspoken: Examining Queer Subtext In Storytelling, Morgan Stevens-Reidy

Postgraduate

This exegesis aims to examine the techniques of subtext that are used to determine creative decisions in narrative structures on various forms of fictional screen media with a specific focus on storytelling in an animation context and the creative mediums used to form it. The major focus of subtextual storytelling that is investigated during this exegesis is the themes and narratives used throughout the LGBTQ+ community and the diversity of its influences upon hidden signs within stories, which was studied through the process of creating the foundation of a short film with the use of methodological approaches such as practice-led …