Fiction Commons^™

Bees, Amanda Babcock

Floodwall Magazine

Runner-up for the 2023 John Little Fiction Scholarship

I Hope You Read This And Feel Awful, Clara Anderson-Cameron

Floodwall Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Sounds Of The Shore: An Afrofuturistic Double Record Performed Through Vernacular Technology, Collin Bright

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Predominately white institutions are socially exclusive hostile environments that uphold white heteronormative patriarchal systems (Harper, 2013; Holliday & Squires, 2021; Razzante, 2018). The everyday task of existing on campus is a struggle for students of color as they are asked to enter spaces/places that are not diverse, inclusive, equitable, or accepting. To address the oppressive and dismissive forces of campus, my thesis uses Afrofuturism to reimagine what it means to exist as a student of color at a PWI. Afrofuturism is a “counter-imaginative cultur[al]” aesthetic-based practice that uses creative postcolonial critiques to reimagine future possibilities (Asante & Pindi, 2020; Pirker …

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 …

The Exile's War, Stephen Edwards Arnold

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

In Gaelwyn, the village of a thousand stories, Katchan receives a powerful ruby and an ancient technique called writing hidden by his grandmother, Maggaline. Jealous of the power Katchan has, the village Elder seeks to destroy him. After escaping the Elder, Katchan must leave his home and traverse a dangerous and mysterious wasteland that will lead him directly into an ancient conflict that lost a powerful empire to the sands of time.

Midnight Occurrences, Valkyrie Bradford

Floodwall Magazine

No abstract provided.

Warp Test, Jonathan Sladko

Floodwall Magazine

No abstract provided.

Activation Day, Elena Uhlenkamp

Floodwall Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Sparkling Heat I Found In The Bathtub, Delaney Otto

Floodwall Magazine

No abstract provided.

Pieces Of Me, Claire Arneson

Floodwall Magazine

No abstract provided.

In-Between, Claire Arneson

Floodwall Magazine

No abstract provided.

Texts Between English Majors, Aubrey Roemmich

Floodwall Magazine

No abstract provided.

Ballet Of Blood Water, Aubrey Roemmich

Floodwall Magazine

No abstract provided.

Loca, Alejandro Heredia

Theses and Dissertations

Loca is a queer transnational novel highlighting the potential of friendship as home when nations, family, and identity groups fail us.

Red: Stories And Novel Opening, Josephine Sloyan

Theses and Dissertations

“Red: Stories and Novel Opening” is a collection of three short stories and the beginning of a novel.

Excerpt From Novel, The House Of Bad Spirit, Balim Barutcu

Theses and Dissertations

This is an excerpt from Balim Barutcu's debut novel, titled (for now!) The House of Bad Spirit. It follows the story of a multi-generational family that lives a split life, not only across countries and continents, but across time. It is the story of a family divided and reunified by the gifts granted by an old god, presiding over their tale amid the stars, from the heavens. She is grateful for the support of the MFA program in Fiction, particularly of her advisors Sigrid Nunez and Adam Haslett.

Machines Don't Stop: Stories & Novel Excerpts, Alexander N. Richardson

Theses and Dissertations

Collection of short stories and novel openings. Nancy Reagan consults astrology to prevent nuclear Armageddon. A son is influenced by his sick mother, his video-game-obsessed father, and commercials. A lawyer attempts to convince the governor of Illinois to prevent Six Flags Great America from reopening during the pandemic.

Review Of The Oxford Handbook Of Science Fiction, Dominic J. Nardi Jr.

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Rob Latham, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction (Oxford, 2014). xv + 620 pages. $160. ISBN: 9780199838844.

“Happily Ever After” For The Twenty-First Century? Sex, Love, And Human Identity In C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles Of Narnia, Monika B. Hilder

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

For better and for worse, classic fairy tales have come under severe criticism as paradigms of sexist patriarchy in recent decades. Likewise, C. S. Lewis has been viewed as sexist, even misogynistic. While many fairy tale and Lewis fans might be tempted to dismiss all of these criticisms as nonsense, gender is one of the predominant discourses of our time, our questions and the varied answers are significant, and in this essay I consider how Lewis’ development of the fairy tale genre in The Chronicles of Narnia offers timeless, possibly even surprising, Christian wisdom. How does Lewis portray sex, love, …

“Nothing Beautiful Hides Its Face”: The Hiddenness Of Esther In C. S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces, John Anthony Dunne

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

C. S. Lewis’ last and arguably best novel, Till We Have Faces, is an impressively nuanced revision and recasting of Apuleius’ short tale of Cupid and Psyche, Books 4–6 of The Golden Ass. Although this ancient myth was the main source for Till We Have Faces, inspiration was no doubt gained from many places. One such influence, previously unnoted, was the biblical book of Esther. This study will note some of the key places where the influence of Esther is detectable, in particular Lewis’ choice of the name “Istra.” This is followed by an investigation into why Esther may have …

Review Of Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Barbara L. Prescott

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Patti Callahan, Becoming Mrs. Lewis (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2018). 406 pages. $25.99. ISBN 9780785224501.

Satori 2023, Madeline Schonitzer, Izabella Setla, Briana Strohbehn, Emily Venné, Madison Grove, Keaton Riebel, Catherine Fruzyna, Esther Stoy, Willow Swinbank, Arin Hendrickson, Brianna Strohbehn, Page Sutton, Augusta Drenckhahn, Patricia Corbera, Madi Bonebright, Savannah Egger, Danica Kilibarda, Tyler Janssen, Lily Gruenhagen, Beth L. Halleck, Daniel Schulz, Emma Rabehl

Satori Literary Magazine

The Satori is a student literary publication that expresses the artistic spirit of the students of Winona State University. Student poetry, prose, and graphic art are published in the Satori every spring since 1970.

The Satori 2023 editors are Gabriel Hathaway, Van Herman, Madeline Schonitzer, Brianna Strohbehn, Page Sutton, Willow Swinbank, and Emily Venné. The Satori 2023 faculty advisor is Dr. Jim Armstrong, Professor of English.

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.

Terrence Loves You, Quentin Dakota Steadman

English Theses & Dissertations

TERRENCE LOVES YOU is a novel that highlights the queer, working-class South and the lifelong navigation between past trauma and present adversity - how these upheavals nourish a lifelong resignation for the future, convincing us we have no control over Fate.

In stories irrational as they are visceral, we follow Damian as he experiences the world on the heels of his transient and independent mother. From the backwoods of Kentucky to a nightmarish carnival, from a guitar store heist to the criminal underworld of Music City U.S.A., Damian is left stumbling behind, bearing witness to a disfigured love. When Damian …

From Far Gone, Back, Courtney Renae Causey

Graduate Thesis Collection

From Far Gone, Back is a short story collection that explores multigenerational families living in and around the changing landscape of Atlanta, GA. It asks what comes of the decisions we are forced to make for those around us and ourselves while surviving the best way we know how.

The Jubilant City Almanac: Stories, Azaria Brown

Graduate Thesis Collection

The Jubilant City Almanac is a collection of short stories set in the magical Jubilant City, a city founded by a group of Black women in 1736. These stories bridge the whimsical and magical with the realities of poverty, classicism, addiction, abuse and health disparities. “Got His Alligator” follows the journey of two codependent addicts as they try to get their fashion designs onto Jubilant City’s premiere drama, Girl, Please. The characters in “Carbon Copy” use a magical phone to bring Denzel Washington to the city. “Jeremiah the Conqueror” summons Black American folk legend, High John. THrough an exploration of …

Strange Beginnings, Lincoln-Abdullah Hasan El-Amin

Graduate Thesis Collection

"Strange Beginnings" is a short story collection consisting of four short stories. Some of these stories go together and some stand alone. All of them aim to evoke something in the reader, whether it be shock, joy, unsettledness, or something more.

The Downfall Of Daniel Fitzpatrick: A Creative Short Story, Renee Horsley

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Daniel grew up with humble beginnings in Starlight, Nebraska. His loving parents provided him and his four other siblings with as much as they could. Victoria grew up wealthy in a small town in Georgia but by fifth grade, Victoria would move to Starlight due to her father’s business proposition. Soon Daniel and Victoria’s worlds collided setting the way for the most epic and yet tragic love story to ever hit Starlight Nebraska. A creative short story that intertwines the disciplines of criminal justice, intergroup dialogue, psychology, and the law.

The Immortal Laugh Track: 20th Century Technology And Media Monoculture, Benjamin Sanford

Honors Theses

The movies, music, and TV shows of the late 20th century have far more staying power than the media that came before and after them. In the 21st century, we consume more media than ever, but we do not gather around the same small group of movies and TV shows in the way that people did decades ago. The M*A*S*H finale in 1983 was viewed by 121.6 million people, over half the population of the United States at that time; the finale of Game of Thrones, one of the most popular shows of the past decade, received around 15 million …