MFA 2021
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Item Finding My Way(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2021-01-16) Matthews, LakeishaBorn and raised on the westside of Baltimore City, Lakeisha Matthews struggles to find her way through girlhood, toward the woman she wants to become. From the perils of poverty, childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence and more, she escapes one hardship after another. Along the way, external forces enter her life, providing her a lifeline and a path to a different future. Through it all, she perseveres and finds herself retiring from the Army at the age of thirty-eight, traveling the world, contemplating and creating the life she wants. She slowly returns to nurture the little girl inside and heal from her past.Item Young Americans(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2021-01-16) Authement, PerryYoung Americans is a collection of short stories that follows the youth, the young adult, those forced to grow up too quickly, into a territory somewhere between the familiar and the foreign. The collection explores themes of isolation and exploration, escape and escapism, freedom and isolation, reality and fantasy. The stories take place across the United States, from the bayous of south Louisiana and the French Quarter of New Orleans, to the west coast of Florida, even non-descript locations in a not-too-distant future. Plots explore youth misguided and misinformed, homosexual repression, the hivemind of religion, caught somewhere between substance and substances, the blurred line between the real and virtual worlds, and the tragedy of one-night stands. Each story dissects the young American in an alien America, the familiar and the foreign, caught in the threshold between one life and the next.Item Peripheral Vision: A Novel(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2021-01-16) Warmbold, CarolynNovel: On a trip to Paris, Caroline recalls a long-ago marriage to a gay man who died of AIDS.Item Dysfunction of Family Legacy(Dysfunction of Family Legacy, 2021-01-16) Torres, AysiaDealing with themes of mental health, self-harm, grief, and addiction, The Dysfunction of Family Legacy is a contemporary, three-part, multi-generational tale that’s set in the small island neighborhood of City Island in the Bronx, NY. The Adams family has been rocked by the sudden death of Tomas Adams, the twin brother of the protagonist, Kim. A year after his death, Kim has stepped into his shadow running the family boxing gym, Rumble City, which used to be a staple in the City Island community. Floundering under grief and pressure, Kim’s anger bubbles under the surface as she finds her escape in bottles and bruised fists. When a letter about the gym’s unpaid property taxes arrives in the mail, she has to decide what her legacy really is and if it can be confined to a building.Item First Lies, First Truths: The Oracle Rune Chronicles Book I(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2021-01-16) Ryan, JamesUltimate survival or destruction depends on a newly reorganized platoon just learning to work together, a prophetic witch with some deep psychological issues, a handful of demons, vampires, werewolves, cartoon characters, dwarfs, elves, and a couple of dragons for good measure. Alexz and her battle buddies must journey across time and space, questioning their moral boundaries and the depths of their loyalties while trying to stay alive and ahead of competitors, enemies, and perils they cannot yet imagine.Item Aurora(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2021-01-16) Perkins, DixieAurora is the story of a seventeen-year-old orphaned fae hybrid, with the royal bloodlines to stop the bloodshed and unite the unseen races of the Mythian world. Living as an empathically gifted human, she hides her talents while being hunted by those who killed her mother and are determined to prevent her from brokering peace. As the story unfolds, Aurora discovers the value of friendship and faces harsh, unchangeable realities with a measure of grace that inspires imitation. This YA novel in the fantasy genre explores the notion of belonging: to family, to a vocation, to a culture, and simultaneously to one’s self. Using imagery of light and darkness and those amorphous moments of transition in-between to illustrate the process of growing up, this work demonstrates how teens become independently their own person and invites them to ponder the paths open to them on their road to adulthood.Item Ahab: A Hockey Story(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2021-01-16) Huestis, BradleyAHAB: A Hockey Story is a sports themed Bildungsroman featuring Corporal Will Foley, an injured U.S. Army paratrooper. After losing his foot, Will must fight to regain his old life—soldiering back, rekindling his passion for ice hockey, and coming to terms with himself, his girlfriend, and his Boston PD father.Item The Hell & the Halcyon & Pulp Ran with the Ghost: Poems(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2021-01-16) Hoffman, LauraThe Hell and the Halcyon is a documentary poem based on evidence related to the Columbine High School shooting. In keeping with the nature of documentary poetry, The Hell and the Halcyon is unabashedly subjective and experimental, refusing the restrictive qualities associated with typical documentarian work. It is comprised of subsections that each refocus the narrative by shifting back and forth between observatory third person and visceral first-person narratives. This piece draws inspiration from John Milton’s Paradise Lost and CD Wright’s One Big Self, as well as from Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails lyrics. It is a flirtation with cacophonic sound that celebrates the sonic and tonal aesthetics of plain, albeit impassioned speech. Pulp Ran with the Ghost is a collection of sixteen poems that range from confessional to mythological and folktale-inspired. The collection features guest appearances from Elvis Presley’s former girlfriend, an alcoholic mermaid, and even a gingerroot named “Tom.” Pulp Ran with The Ghost embraces the dark and the absurd, utilizing unexpected metaphors as points of entry into pits of both humor and despair.Item Peninsula(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2021-01-16) Benefield, HannahIn this collection of short stories, four women's lives intersect at the local doctor's office situated in a small Pennsylvanian town near the Great Lakes. Cheryl grapples with her feelings for a handsome stranger who visits their office with mysterious back pain. When life feels out of control for Sarah, she copes by creating a world she can control in the VirtualLyfe video game. Alicia navigates a weekend away with her siblings as old habits and hurts resurface at the family cabin. When Billie learns a secret that threatens to tear her family apart, she must choose between two wrongs to make it right. There are no easy answers, and the choices made will force these four women to confront the truth about themselves.