Fiction Commons^™

What Is A "Pure Life"?, Ailani Anglin

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

A personal reflection about encountering new experiences in Costa Rica. The comparision between living in Costa Rica and the U.S, how fortunate we are to have many opportunities in this country.

Costa Rica, Costa Rica, Natalia Zevallos

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Short poem about the unique experiences while in Costa Rica.

Esa Mariposa, Carolina Hernandez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This free-write poem was written with a purpose of making meaning of the Blue Morpho butterfly I continuously saw abroad in Costa Rica. Being able to have captivating conversations with locals all while being comforted by the country’s blanket of communal love was an unforgettable experience. As a metaphor for change, growth, and transformation, I found this remarkable butterfly to be a highlight of my time in Costa Rica. As a symbol of my late father, it called for reflection and sitting with suppressed emotions. For that reason, I wanted to depict how its reappearing presence became a hopeful reminder …

Radical Love: Embracing Connection And Dismantleing Shame, Lisette Gonzalez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

It is essential to maintain love, care, and connection in the face of oppressive systems. There needs to be a call for bravery to get through the challenges that many face, Costa Rica being one of them.

Introduction

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Inside the introduction of "Pure Vida: Reflections from Costa Rica", readers will find an illustration by Leyna Tran, “Meet the Team” section and a detailed table of contents, guiding readers through this edition.

Call And Response : Experiments In Storytelling, Deanne Fernandes

Masters Theses

Being part of RISD's inaugural Masters of Illustration cohort has been an immense honor. This journey has been nothing short of transformative and healing, as it has allowed me to unearth layers of self-discovery through my creative practice.

In my thesis, I introduce a fresh research methodology rooted in the principles of call and response, with adaptability, creativity, and storytelling as its foundational pillars. Through the lenses of visual storytelling, experimental animation, graphic journalism, and fictional world-building, I demonstrate how these techniques can effectively bridge the gap between theory and practice. This dynamic approach fosters meaningful connections among diverse perspectives …

Laughing In The Wrong Places: Daniel Clowes And The Danger Of Nostalgia, Liam Cassidy

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This essay explores the relationship between art objects and our past, narrowing in on nostalgia as a malevolent force in American culture that will lead to its eventual downfall. Focusing on Daniel Clowes’ latest graphic novel Monica as a case study, I demonstrate how graphic stories like this seek to reflect rather than interpret, and are often more closely aligned to the creator’s biography than an attempt at broad strokes or political pandering. The essay uses interviews with Clowes at various points of his career, reviews of Monica, academic essays on Clowes, as well as articles and books dissecting …

The Lantern, 2023-2024, Grace Wurzer, Naila Twyman, Owen Fazzini, Catherine Stump, Aiden Jones, Keegan Mcgowan, Nanditha Vinod, Olivia Cross, Tatiana Kent, Sidney Belleroche, Zach Devita-Paulson, Christopher Gerrow, Morgan Grabowski, Leyna Maio, Derek Matarazzo, Madeline O'Connor, Luke Peloquin, Ze'ev Shaheen, Hana Yolacan, Mary Mcnabb, Mary Lobo, Hannah Conley, Matilda Dumaine, Mairead Mcdermott, Abigail Prince, Livia M. Nocito, Heather Reitnauer, Ashley Adam, Ryan Bernier, Erin Corcoran, Leo Cox, Julia Decamp, Izabella Entrekin, Georgia Gardner, Emily Gurganus, Amber Leech, Kelsey Lyons, Aurora Mckee, Amy Smith, Miara Truog Sebouhian

The Lantern Literary Magazines, 1933 to Present

"God," worship, and damnation in the font of my body • The Men in My Life • Vagabond Fishermen • Unfinished Elegy • Big Game • Bitters • On the Ferris Wheel • Ruffling Feathers • Haunted House • Dragon in the Pond • Saint Sebastian • The Last Supper • The Perfect Babka • Session • Sunrise • Dish Dog • A Love Letter to Hands • In Memoriam: Mary Lobo '15 • Champagne • Resting Place • Balance • An Arboreal Requiem • Moving Forward • Bye-Bye Beach Days • Portofino • The Moth on My Dashboard • …

My Gender In The Closet, Aspen Balducci

Student Sequential Art and Comics

This book details the transitioning and rediscovery of gender from a single person's perspective. Gender is not linear or binary, something all people should be free to study and discover.

Preserving Wonder And Welcoming Boredom: The Importance Of Quietly Incredible Adventures In Today’S Rushed Childhood, Amalia Hillmann

Children's Book Writing and Illustrating (MFA) Theses

Once upon childhoods past, children’s early years were filled with exploration of and delight in the world around them. They learned through independent play and chasing curiosity without the micromanagement of intervening adults. Inter-generational relationships grew character and knowledge via shared stories and skills and encouraged collaborative experiences and tasks. Today’s culture is losing this inquisitive, play-filled heart of childhood. Children are increasingly pulled through their earliest years and pushed into adolescence prematurely by impatient communities, unrealistic academic expectations, and distracted parenting. The loss of slightly-wild, unstructured adventures and rooted parent-child relationships in pre-teen years should be of interest to …

"Waiting By The Shores", Emily Suh

Landshark Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Amelie, August, Elisabeth A. Bailey

Landshark Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Making Then Meaning, Ben Denzer

Masters Theses

This is an artist talk contained within a book. It is 816 pages and 49 minutes long. Closed captions run across the spreads. A video of this talk can be watched on bendenzer.com/making-then-meaning

At RISD, I’ve been prompted to expand the scope and tools of my practice and to reflect on questions of meaning in my work.

I spend my days making things, but I’ve never really had good answers to questions of why I make the things I make, or what their meaning is. I don’t think there are simple answers to these questions.

I think meaning comes from …

Creating Project Contrast: A Video Game Exploring Consciousness And Qualia, Pierce Papke

Honors Projects

Project Contrast is a video game that explores how the unique traits inherent to video games might engage reflective player responses to qualitative experience. Project Contrast does this through suspension of disbelief, avatar projection, presence, player agency in storytelling, visual perception, functional gameplay, and art. Considering the difficulty in researching qualitative experience due to its subjectivity and circular explanations, I created Project Contrast not to analyze qualia, though that was my original hope. I instead created Project Contrast as an avenue for player self-reflection and learning about qualitative experience. While video games might be just code and art on a …

The Dark House And Its Inhabitants, Emily Bielski

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

From the inception of the genre, Gothic horror has been fixated on the domestic space in distress. This essay explores domestic archetypes and roles of the Gothic novel, serving as a “tour of the house”, analyzing the iconography of the dark castle, and how it externalizes and exacerbates the fears and behaviors of its inhabitants. The power dynamic of the household is starkly divided by the expectations and authority of masculine and feminine figures. In turn the “house” becomes a vehicle for the anxieties of the inhabitants—both experienced and inflicted—regarding gender, sexuality, isolation, and abuse. Exploration of the visual and …

Legends Of Light: Crafting Middle Grade Fantasy In The Tradition Of Catholic Philosophy And Medieval Visual Culture, Bernadette Lamb

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This essay promotes the writing and illustrating of middle grade literature that mirrors the wonder-inducing experiences of leafing through an illuminated manuscript and stepping into a Gothic cathedral. An examination of Catholic medieval visual culture moves into a discussion on its underlying philosophy and theology, which are profoundly centered on relational healing and the dignity of the human person. Christian writers including St. Pope John Paul II, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Josef Pieper, Madeline L’Engle, Dr. Bob Schuchts, Makoto Fujimura, and Andrew Peterson inform an exploration of mercy, forgiveness, and love as self-gift in the context of illustration and storytelling …

Visual Development For Wellspring, Jane Frances Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The primary focus of this thesis is the study of visual development for worldbuilding, starting with creative writing and documentation and translating the written content into visual concepts in both 2D and 3D. This project includes an original narrative, setting, and characters and explores aspects of the visual development pipeline. The content below contains work in visual research, 2D character design, 3D character sculpting, 3D printing and assembly, hard-surface modeling, matte-painting, illustration, compositing, and heavy creative writing.

The Siren Of San Francisco, Emily Gage

Whittier Scholars Program

The Siren of San Francisco is a story I have been interested in telling for the longest time focusing on the coming of age of the main character, Mia, and how she deals with change through gaining the power of shapeshifting. A lot of the graphic novel explores the relationships between Mia, her mom, and her close friends and how her relationships with them change during this transitional period.

The driving force behind this story was my enduring interest in relationships, identity, feminism, and how people can shape the people around them, including themselves. I approached this particular story from …

Celebrations 2023, University Of Mississippi Writing Project, University Of Mississippi. Office Of Pre-College Programs

Celebrations: A Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Lantern, 2022-2023, Kate Isabel Foley, Jenna Lozzi, Emily Gurganus, Elliot Cetinski, Juliana Valerio, Morgan Grabowski, Laura Bradley, Elliott Hannam, Catherine Stump, Tyler Ways, Alessandra Armour, Emily Bradigan, Erin Corcoran, Leo Cox, Olivia Cross, Connor Donovan, Tatiana Kent, Andrew Kmett, Olivia Negro, Miles D. Noecker, Leo Quinn, Emilia Reed, Ryan Savage, Ze'ev Shaheen, Amy Smith, Vanessa Worley, Aurora Mckee, Evan Chartock, Matilda Dumaine, Sharon Gearhart, Yemu Huang, Sophie K. Louis, Mairead Mcdermott, Jordan Ulsh, Mattie Young, Emilio De Sousa, Sarah Fales, Owen Fazzini, Georgia Gardner, Christopher Gerrow, Jonny Gherman, Keegan Mcgowan, David Mccauley, Madeline O'Connor, Hannah Conley

The Lantern Literary Magazines, 1933 to Present

The Genie and the Scotsman • Taxi Driver Savior Complex • Midnight Waltz • Eulogy of Caution • Don't cry over spilled milk!! • I am the spider • The Lamb • The Witch and the Shepherd • Nostalgia • In the Summer I Want Light • I Am (Not) • Thanatophobia • We're not children anymore • Hamlet's Fool • Lemon • the last two people in the world • Amongst Chaos (what captivated me) • How About Now, Billy Joel • Bug Trap • Spring, Musser Hall, Room 219 • Time's Denial • A Song of History • …

Zephyrus, Western Kentucky University

Student Creative Writing

The fine arts magazine of Western Kentucky University at Bowling Green.

Soap Of Grass, Elton Tanaka

Landshark Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Selfish Dandelions, Elton Tanaka

Landshark Literary Review

No abstract provided.

John Green Doesn't Make Me Sick Anymore, Benjamin Tabor Jr.

Landshark Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Vomit On The Beach, Elton Tanaka

Landshark Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Transubstantiation, Benjamin Tabor Jr.

Landshark Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Contributors

Landshark Literary Review

No abstract provided.

A Perfect Escape: Fantasy, Place And Narrative In Adolescence, Cydney Cherepak

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This essay explores the realms of special places, the literary genre of fantasy, narrative, and comics. These topics are traversed alongside subjects of adolescence and the creation of stories for middle-grade readers. Framed with personal stories, as well as peaks into my process, I investigate these subjects through the lens of my own life and work, specifically my thesis project, a comic for middle-grade readers titled Beyond the Castle Walls. Beginning with adolescence in association with special places, I consider the work of developmental psychologists David Sobel and Edith Cobb as they pin-point the role of secret forts, nature, …

Meet Me In The Middle Ages: Engaging With Fantasy, Reality, And Collaborative World-Building, Amanda Greene

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This critical essay accompanies and describes my thesis project, Medievalia Miscellany, a magazine for middle-grade readers which explores the world of medieval fantasy through art, comics, stories, and activities. Throughout the essay, I use my own term “archaeological upcycling” to discuss and explore a variety of relationships between ideas of parts and a whole. I then use it to characterize the way stories are created out of many different parts and how these parts help a reader to relate to both the world of the story and the world in which they live. I describe the genre of medieval fantasy …

The Lantern, 2021-2022, Sarah Buck, Amy Litofsky, Julia Paiano, Juliana M. Valerio, Lauren Flanagan, Miles Noecker, Amelia Kunko, Isabella Almonte, Makayla Heisler, Bradley Kocher, Kate I. Foley, Jasmine Ruiz, Aurora Mckee, Marie Sykes, Morgan Grabowski, Jessica Schnur, Jenna Lozzi, Tyler Ways, Kyle Guzy, Benjamin Tobias, Elliot Cetinski, Leo Cox, Ian Abrahams, Gabbie Pitt, Derek Matarazzo, Alessandra Armour, Jessica Celli, Emily Crocker, Anastasia Dziekan, Rimsha Maryam, Ryan Savage, Vanessa Worley, Jesse White, Amy Smith, Sarah Fales, Christine Heren, Emily Bradigan, Kristen Cooney, Rishabh Kancherla, Mairead Mcdermott, Kylie Halko

The Lantern Literary Magazines, 1933 to Present

No More Buses through El Paso • A Woman's World • The Angel of Tragedy • A Victim of Circumstance • Ace of Hearts • Ghost Light • Missing Diamonds • The Upside-Down House: A Dialogue with the Self • What is Chronic Pain? • A Sunny Day in Sinkhole • Extra Marshmallows • Fourth Wall Broken • Hemlock • In the Comfort of Others • Lasting Impressions • Let's Do the Time Warp Again • One Last Afternoon • Space Invaders • The Dogwood Tree • An Ode to Poppies • Charlotte's Web • Crab • Crossing • Dandelions …