Fiction Commons^™

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.

The Fourth Wall, Serenity Dougherty

Theses

“The Fourth Wall” is the beginning of a fiction novel set in the comedy scene in Lincoln, NE during the #MeToo movement. The story follows a young female comedian in the scene, Kara, from the perspectives of several significant people in her life. Though the novel never inhabits Kara’s perspective directly, it seeks to give readers an intimate look at the difficulty she faces as she tries to navigate the male-dominated world of stand-up comedy during a time when the community is being forced to confront its troubling history of sweeping reports of sexual violence under the rug.

Tiny Furious Circles, Ann M. Herrington

Theses

I have had time to live and time to reflect on that living. What I have found is that certain things present themselves, over and over, wearing different skins. And though they look different, there is a certain whiff of familiarity that activates the soul’s hindbrain and pulls you close. That’s how it has been for me. Because of this — my failure to learn the first time; my need to see a thing from all its sides; my constant picking at the half-healed — certain themes repeat. And because they have come to me at different times in many …

Stockholm: A Novel, Sydney Queen

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

No abstract provided.

L'Amour, Fleur D’Araignée Publishing Co.

Zea E-Books Collection

A compilation of short fiction from Dr. Bev’s ‘Introduction to English Studies’

Throughout history, humankind has gathered together collections of beautiful things, ranging from bottle-caps to coins to seashells or even flowers. No matter the season, humans have devoted hours of their time to admire and share the world’s beauty with those around them. These relationships then become their own collections of the beautiful, friends and family gathering together to appreciate that which they find most lovely, spanning across distance, hardship, and time. Today, we continue to admire the world’s beauty and cherish the love we find there. The word …

The Lantern, 2019-2020, Colleen Murphy, Jeremy Moyer, Adam Mlodzinski, Samuel Ernst, Lauren Toscano, Gabriel Tenaglia, Griffin Banks, Madison Mccolgan, Ria Malones, Rachel Thornton, Gabby Demelfi, Liam Worcheck, Ryan Savage, Vanessa Worley, Aviva Schuh, Emily Bradigan, Kiley Addis, Shayna Kushner, Kevin Leon, Tommy Armstrong, Matthew Schmitz, Millie Drury, Jenna Lozzi, Sarah Buck, Cyn Ercole, Morgan Mason, Janice Partee, Madison Rodak, Daniel Walker, Jordan Gagan, Brooke Yanaga, Kate I. Foley, Matthew Li, Zach Brink, Jessica White, Anastasia Dziekan, Jadidsa Perez, Ian Abrahams, Lindsey Reilly, Kalina Witkowska, Kristen Cooney, Julia Paiano, Kylie Halko, Tiffini Eckenrod, Kelsey Gavin

The Lantern Literary Magazines, 1933 to Present

Cochlea, Greek for Snail • That Light in the Sky • Overview Effect • The Running Man • Sunset • Rabbits • What Happened While You Were Drunk Last Saturday Night • 21st Century Frankenstein • Passing • I Saw the Veil • Star Crossed • Subtle Hints • Hungry • Basement High • The Night Who Lost Its Stars • Remnants • Nostalgia • I Want to Go to Bed • Wooden Car Blues • Silver Honey • The Breakup • Here's to Losing You • Marfa • Cold Wind Blows • Last Week • 6/12/2019 • These Feather …

Junkballer, Daniel Pobereyko

All NMU Master's Theses

At seventeen Roger Fishinger’s a pretty good pitcher. But his older brother Bob’s a pitcher, too—and a once-in-a-generation type talented pitcher, with Big Leagues written all over him. The way Roger sees it, the only way to make up some ground in this probably unwinnable sibling rivalry is to start by getting a Division One scholarship. That, and nothing less. Junkballer is a short novel told from the perspective of Roger over the course of his junior-to-senior year summer as he tries achieving this goal, while navigating the world of youth travel baseball and all its quirks. The pushover coaches, …

Satori 2020, Shannon Laurance, Sara Severson, Hailey Seipel, Mike Desch, Annette Deyo, Nicole Tompos, Jena Archer, Megan Martin, Abbey Johnson, Carly Weber, Sara Severson, Mike Desch, Kimberly Coffee, Dahlia Garofalo

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.

Holding Up The Sky: Research-Based Fiction Writing, Madelynn Stuart

UCARE: Research Products

Holding Up the Sky is the culmination of dedication and research to create a series of eleven vignettes detailing the narratives of immigrants through a work of fiction. The goal of this project is to bring to light the people who may not always be visible— those who have left their homes to travel somewhere strange, whether in search of better opportunities, lost loved ones, or a renewed hope in humanity. These immigrants, though unknown to many, deserve to be seen and to have their stories told so we can better understand the world around us. Through fictional vignettes strongly …

The Music Of Character Development And Point Of View, Rebecca Padgett

English Creative Writing Theses

For my thesis, I have written a novel and (accompanying analysis essay) that examines Nashville’s country music scene from Broadway to Music Row. Through the use of a third person narrator and multiple points of view, I delve into the lives of Broadway musicians, songwriters and touring artists.

The Work Of The World, Mark C. Joslin

The Hilltop Review

No abstract provided.

The Perfect Bubble, Elizabeth Orwig

The Hilltop Review

No abstract provided.

An Open Bag, Matilde Benmayor

Theses and Dissertations

What do we take with us? How much space should we leave in the bag for what we might find? This paper is a journey from under the rug and onto the pavement. Sowing spiderweb maps I try to make a new city my own.

Primrose And Other Stories, Demetra Koras

Graduate Thesis Collection

Primrose and Other Stories is a short story collection that explores themes of family, loss, and legacy.

Son Of Red Earth Or The George Story: Novel Excerpt, Callie Ann Atkinson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Next Chicago Police Chief Takes Actions To Address The Chicago Murder Rate, Joseph Scapellato

Other Faculty Research and Publications

A contemporary short story about the Chicago murder rate.

We Will Plant Birds Of Paradise, Genevieve A. Rheams

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

And They Shall Be Men: An Original Anthology & Analysis Of The Modern Male Bildungsroman, Margaret Cox

Senior Honors Theses

The stories that boys have been told about what it means to be a man change throughout history. This study considers the postmodern effect of masculinities, female empowerment, as well as the canon of Western bildungsroman in an attempt to understand how the narratives have changed over the past 50 years. Additionally, an anthology of original fiction illustrates how universal stories persist within the changing social narratives.

Treading The Winepress; Or, A Mountain Of Misfortune, Clarissa Minnie Thompson Allen, Gabrielle Brown, Eric Willey, Jean Macdonald

Undiscovered Americas

“Every life hath its chapter of sorrow. No matter how rich the gilding or fair the pages of the volume, Trouble will stamp it with his sable signet.”

So begins the novel Treading the Winepress; or, A Mountain of Misfortune by Clarissa Minnie Thompson Allen, which, had it appeared in book form in 1885–1886 instead of serialized in The Boston Advocate, would have been the second novel published by a black woman in the United States. Instead, Allen has been mostly forgotten by literary history. Now, thanks to the painstaking efforts of editors Gabrielle Brown, Eric Willey, and Jean …

Text By Mus, Mustafa Abubaker

Graduate Scholarly Works

This is why I have created a Twitter bot to generate interactive thread-based creative writing in the form of short stories called Text By Mus as my interactive media project in the graduate level course Web Content Development: Writing for Interactive Media PRWR 6850 instructed by Dr. Sergio Figueiredo. The account features “choose your own adventure” stories written in the literary fiction style. I would like to use the Twitter bot to combat the mass-market production of what is called literature in lieu of digital fiction being just as good as classical, all-time great fiction. This project presents a software …

Review Of Fly Already, Michael F. Russo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Rukmini, Satya Kandala

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

No abstract provided.

Gini, Andrea O'Connor

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

No abstract provided.

Review Of I Heart Oklahoma, Michael F. Russo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Bryan Thao Worra, Pauline De Leon

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: An award-winning Laotian American writer, I work actively to support Laotian, Hmong and Southeast Asian American artists. I am recognized by the Loft Literary Center, the Minnesota State Arts Board and the National Endowment for the Arts. I also served as a consulting contractor with the Minnesota History Center, the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans and the Minnesota Humanities Commission. I am an active professional member of the Horror Writer Association and president of the Science Fiction Poetry Association.

Hypha, Emily Ruth-Diehl Brooks

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

For hundreds of years, Ona and her people have been unknowingly enslaved. Ona has given everything she is to the spiritual people on the mountain, including her own son. So when rumors spread through the swamp’s magical mycelium that she and her people are slaves, Ona must find the truth and, if possible, reunite with her son before he becomes as evil as those who raised him. Meanwhile, her son has his own doubts after his people leave his friend to die. As he and Ona journey separately to save the people they love, they find everything they believed to …

Kentuckiana, And A Dash Of Cambodia: A Collection Of Short Stories, Brodie Lee Gress

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The following is a collection of five short stories set in regions familiar to me: “Dewberry Park,” “YouLead,” and “The Color Violet” in Indiana; “Mens Rea” in Kentucky; and “Tory Ride” in Cambodia. Gay identity plays a role in many of these stories, and other themes explored include family, region, socioeconomics, gender, mentality, and change. These stories are concerned with people on the brink, failing and surviving all the same. Some of them are intended to weigh, and some to satirize. I hope they all nick their readers.

Review Of Song For The Unraveling Of The World, Michael F. Russo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sixth Form, Adrienne Barton

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The ten stories in this short story collection explore the liminal spaces created by certain physical spaces as well as times in the characters’ lives. The stories are largely related to a school environment, and the relationships and experiences that are unique to the players living and moving within that context. How much are the relationships and actions of the characters influenced by the setting. What weight do institutional forces and tradition carry in the characters’ lives, and how do they exploit it for their own will or conform?

Crossroads And Crow Feathers, Travis E. Bowman

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses the short story form to examine the influence of myth, magick, and the supernatural on the interstitial areas of the United States. The power of words as a force for change figures prominently in these stories. This thesis looks at the monstrous as it moves in the darkness and in the minds of humans, but also at the tremendous depths of compassion and courage we find in ourselves when faced with monstrous situations.