MFA 2016
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Item THE ANGEL'S SHARE: Fourteen Chapters from the Eighteen-Chapter Novel(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-01-07) Ishmael, SusanItem Another Kind of Love(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Del Rio, ChristinaAnother Kind of Love is a novel that tells of loss, love and fate as seen through the lives of Ray and Cheyenne—whose love for each other takes them both by surprise. Cheyenne begins her story engaged to Jedidiah, a loving, wealthy and caring man. Ray, the foreman of a construction company, meets Cheyenne, who is distressed by the growing illness of her nursing home-bound mother. Their initial meeting sparks the inevitable course of their relationship. Beyond love, Ray struggles with questioning her faith and her role in Santeria, the ancient earth religion practiced by many in the Puerto Rican community, including Ray’s mother, whose ultimate goal is passing down the ways of Santeria to her daughter. Through interactions with friends, family, and the heart, Ray and Cheyenne face different life choices that force them to ask the question: How do you answer love?Item The Blessed Meek(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Howard, JessicaTHE BLESSED MEEK is an exploration of free will versus the sovereignty of the church and those who keep its doctrines. By exposing the lives of Meekness residents, especially preachers’ kids, Will Chance and Alora Ryan, the reader discovers the heart of this short story collection, which traverses the bridge between religious faith and humanistic needs. Even though these protagonists are raised in different generations, they encounter the same problems regarding Meekness: do they fight against the value system of the Meek; or do they humble themselves under its weight? By engaging multiple points of views, readers are drawn into the hearts and minds of Meekness citizens, so one knows exactly how it feels to be Meek.Item Cherry Red: A Novel(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-01-07) Frazier, GuyCherry Red is a story of one man who fled a stable and responsible life, and his first true love, and engaged in reckless and deadly private investigative activities. He realizes his need to escape back to stability and responsibility, and finds the journey filled with peril and tragedy. He has attempted his return, his fleeing home, while engaging in a dangerous encounter with a lethal enemy who cannot know his actual role in her life, and who may kill him at any time. Along the journey, he is accompanied by his father and old friends, not all of whom live, and not all of whom know of his dangerous mission. In the end, it is his journey, alone with an agent of death, that provides the answer to his quest. As he walks through the crucible of intrigue, he fulfills his mission, exposing a lethal foe and arriving at the life he sought to live.Item A Collection of Poems(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Wilhelm, TheresaThis manuscript offers a collection of poems that center around the first-person lyric. Interwoven, are themes and the aesthetic techniques that create imagery, and an experience for the reader. The poems are built for discovery, for the unveiling of the self. The importance of the poem is found within the diction. Each stanza is carefully considered, holding value to the individual word, line breaks, and white space. The manipulation of language allows the speaker to portray who the reader thinks the writer to be. Pardon My Society is written to impact the reader. The structure is built to enhance the metaphor and the voice of the speaker who is present. Themes within the poems uncover love, examine sexuality, with poems addressing societal issues, and the emotional concern of the family. The speaker’s voice is strong, and travels in and out of these contemporary pieces. Over the course of this manuscript, the reader will experience a battle with childhood, broken love and rebellion, female sexuality, and the everyday people we live amongst.Item D.C.B.(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Bolger, Benjamin B.The work explores events related to the death of Donald C. Bolger. The author and son, Benjamin B. Bolger, reflects on the complex impact of his father’s death.Item DARK, DARK MY LIGHT: A Novel(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-01-07) Ishak, SyamsuriatinaDark, Dark My Light is a New Adult Social Science Fiction tale concerning the survivors of global virus pandemic, rebuilding a world that has descended into chaos. In the not-so-distant future, the world’s population has dwindled after a viral pandemic. The Degenerative Lymphatic Disorder (DLD) Virus transformed those who didn't die of a raging fever into rabid beings (“Zourou”), people who exhibit psychotic and animalistic behavior; so chemically altered, they have lost all that makes them human. All semblance of a modern twenty-first century existence has fallen and society has descended into a state of anarchy. The remaining survivors are forced into hiding, gathering in survival camps and picking up the pieces in an attempt to rebuild society. Follow the story of Kennedi and Adam, who, after being separated before the catastrophe, are reunited in Camp Tampa, one of the “civilized” outposts hanging on to dear life. Scientists have long sought to find a cure for the virus that ravaged the world, and when Kennedi and her children are found to be immune to the disease, they hope to develop a cure. As the story unfolds, the couple battle inner demons, and discover how love and humanity can conquer the darkness surrounding them. This thesis contains Chapters 1 to 27 of the 35-chapter novel.Item Dead End Drive(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Kirkpatrick, IanDead End Drive examines the human condition through the persuasive tools of desire, greed, and desperation. The main character, Kelly, discovers that some people are willing to trade anything if it means exalting themselves and that some find a particular pleasure in watching others suffer while they gain. The novel uses comedy to demoralize readers and reduce the severity of the murder that takes place in the story. By removing the criminality of the actions, the narrator questions the reader’s morality and draws them into a sense of normalcy and madness. It thrusts readers into a position where martyring others is not only seen as ordinary, but it’s turned into a playful sport. The setting also plays a major role in establishing the major theme of the novel: In order to move forward, something must be lost. Dead End Drive takes place in a Louisiana plantation placed built on a swamp that devours the surrounding life in order to thrive.Item A Dish Best Served Cold & Other Stories(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) McCabe, RobertA DISH BEST SERVED COLD & OTHER STORIES focuses on the impact of unspoken secrets, the justifiable and brutal murder of a serial rapist by a small group of his victims, and the supernatural retaliation by the dead man against those who murdered him. During a college reunion, a middle aged man faces not just the ghostly appearance of the young man who raped him, but also the re-acquaintance with a former male lover, memories of lies, deceit, and the realization that no crime goes unpunished. Unable to come to terms with his own homosexuality, he has married and raised two children. He lies to himself about his love for his wife, and following the reunion, he confronts his inner demons of guilt and fear and breaks free from his marriage, only to discover that no one is safe from the past. The second half of the book focuses on the recent discovery of one of the secondary character’s short stories published after the character’s mysterious death. Together, these stories form an intriguing and terrifying narrative.Item Grounding Out(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Reynolds, ClarenceA collection of 13 short and short, short stories, Grounding Out exposes the pasts and foreshadows the dark futures of its anti-heroes -weakened and disillusioned - but not out of the game, not yet. ‘Turtle Races’ protagonist considers, from a seedy motel’s barstool, that his life’s work consists of lining up recruits for the big leagues, offering the young men who trust him as much hope as a turtle crossing the interstate. ‘Sudden’ tells the story of a widower who struggles to live through the brokenness, lost love and loneliness of his life. ‘Fool’s Child’ remembers the clumsy, first-time sexual encounter that results in, Jennifer says, her pregnancy while leaving the supposed father with a set of doubts he cannot escape.Item Invasive Species(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Manning, RileyInvasive Species is a collection of stories that examines the concepts of societal and geographical liminality. These stories follow immigrants, thieves, despondent parents, and entomophobes who are at odds with their sense of place. The setting of North Mississippi acts as a crucible for these outsiders as they search for belonging and battle for ownership of their own destinies.Item The Levon Helter Ticket(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Edwards, JeffreyNo one said you had to be sane to win the lottery. Popular conspiracy writer Levon Ignatius Helter, aka MOSES67, of Hells Kitchen has just resigned. The government knows too much, the people are apathetic, and his life’s work scribing truth from his cave-like apartment has made no significant impact. From this day forward, he pledges to bravely live his few remaining days in freedom until the black SUVs and helicopters come for him. That is until a ticket alters his destiny presenting him fame, fortune, and an uncomfortable face-to face meeting with the recently reelected president he madly despises. A dedicated patriot with comical anger management issues, Levon accepts his final mission. With the help of his friends from the Central Park Chess and Checkers Club and a disbarred attorney, he will launch the most unorthodox campaign ever seen against a president no longer running a campaign. Levon Helter, the loose cannon with endless balls, is about to make his mark as the biggest pain in the ass in the history of American politics.Item Life Without You(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-01-07) Hetzel, JuliaWar ravages through Europe in the early 1940’s as young German couple, Gottlieb and Herzeliede, struggle to learn who they are together and apart. After Gottlieb, an enlisted soldier, is captured by Allied forces he is sent to what he considers Hell on Earth, Tabor, Iowa. A prisoner of war, Gottlieb learns for himself who the real enemy is in the war while working with local farmers. Braving the fickle Iowa elements, Gottlieb’s work on the Iowa farms proves to be his only reprieve from the world around him as he learns of deaths he couldn’t stop, infidelity, and skewed views of reality. Meanwhile, Herzeliede’s life in Wutach with her parents never feels whole while Gottlieb is away. With only letters to communicate, she feels cut off from the world and helpless. When her parents send her to live with her Aunt Ana, a nurse in Munich, she learns how good her life really was in the German countryside. In the city with Ana by her side, Herzeliede struggles to deal with her long distance relationship, angry superiors, and continual overnight bombings which become part of her everyday life. She also discovers who she really wants to be with Gottlieb and without. Circumstances may keep them apart physically, but it is their attitudes that keep them apart emotionally in Life Without You.Item MANIFEST: Poems(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-01-07) Redmond-Theodore, AngelaThis collection shows how art is an act of responsibility. That is, because the poet is able to respond—to injustice, to art, to the natural world, to personal experiences and family history—she must respond. However poetry touches the reader, its greater value is in moving her, or him, to respond in turn. Although a majority of these poems are lyrical, the tension of shifting from one theme to the next creates a narrative arc. Recurring themes, motifs, and the naming of names provide a “story.” Most of these poems operate with brevity, and concision of line and stanza, carrying the reader's eye down the page. Free verse alternates, on occasion, with received forms. The diction is simple, tinted with African-American dialect, determined by an interest in strong auditory impact. We limit the scope of creativity and understanding when we ask, reductively, "What is the poem about?" This collection redirects both reader and writer to the more accurate question, “What is the poem saying?”Item The Maw of the Mountain: A Novel(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-01-07) Weiss, MichaelHidden in a Pennsylvania mountain range, the secluded community known as the Schullen is accustomed to a way of life experienced nowhere else. It’s not uncommon for neighbors to claim they’ve witnessed forest creatures at night or a loved one’s spirit traipsing about the yard in the form of an albino rabbit. After all, when one has a stone god peering down from the highest peak and holidays include contact with hallucinogenic flowers, oddities are sure to take place. Yet at its core, the tight-knit town holds its doctrines, neighborly love and some harmless gossip, above all else. For Lowell Jameson, his destiny lies in the forests he holds dear and his bloodline promises him the seat of spiritual leader of the community. His dream is certain to be fulfilled and he eagerly waits for his turn to wear the uniform of the town’s premier holy man. Yet someday comes suddenly when his father abruptly abandons everything he’s stood for, he leaves a wake of confusion and dishonor for the Jameson family to deal with. One revealed secret digs up another and soon, a conspiracy and dark experiment is revealed at the core of the Schullen. Lowell’s journey for truth and to reclaim his home forces him to encounter not only the fantastical side of life, but also true desperation in a hollow world. Before he can find his way back, he’s forced to struggle with the concepts of faith, family, and when to question the seemingly infallible.Item Off in the Weeds(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Garms, EdenMy thesis is an exploration of the neurotic human. I looked at its effects on social situations, the personal psyche, and the effects on the seemingly innocent bystander. I tried to approach the idea of neuroticism from as many angles as possible, to think outside the pre-labeled box of neuroticism, my goal being to show its vast reach on our everyday interactions. Varying from mild to extreme situations, neurotic behavior has massive social implications.Item Pangaea: A Novel(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-01-07) Chacon, TiffanyPangaea follows seventeen-year-old Lenna Thompson, an intelligence operative-in training living in a futuristic world in which the continents have collided. Lenna and her father are commissioned to disarm nuclear missiles in the unstable and lawless territory known as Pangaea. When her father is kidnapped by a band of criminals called The Divers, Lenna and her newfound friends must trek through the hazardous Pangaean rainforest to locate her father and the missiles. While her world is unraveling, Lenna discovers what it means to trust — not only in others, but in herself as well.Item Peace Be the Journey(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-06-16) Schumacher, TimothyItem PERFECT LANDING: A Collection of Poems(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-01-07) Hansen, TinamariePerfect Landing portrays through confessional poetry, the speakers experience of familial, and romantic encounters. This collection, introduces the reader to the concepts of acceptance, growth and forgiveness of relationships. From a Brooklyn childhood, through the experiences of adulthood, Perfect Landing displays the reality of intimate relationships with honesty and self awareness.Item Quiet De Luxe Portable: Poems(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2016-01-07) Steinwand, KurtThe Swan Painter grapples with how loss, failure, and even minor triumph can lack meaning. These poems document Midwestern roots, growing up in Florida, transplanting to California, and being called back by necessity to gather and preserve what lives in impermanence, as a family dies out. Flowers yield short-blooming moments. A timeline carries us from ancient Greece to the suicide of Robin Williams. Along the continuum of the sixties, filled with music and ruined innocence, Bob Dylan gets redefined as a confidante, his iconic songs in earnest conversation. The San Francisco Bay Area transforms into an unobtainable ideal, alive in clarity and relevance. These poems comment on desires in their most basic form, and the realities that both fade and fuel them.