MFA 2020
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Item Tales from the Omega Cluster(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-06-18) Townsend, MadelineIn this collection of postmodern science fiction in the formalist vein of Ted Chiang and Ursula K. LeGuin, a convict on the run, a ship captain, a corrupt politician, and an android princess are caught up in the complexities of life in the Omega Cluster. The Omega Cluster is a sector of space, home to hundreds of species from varied political ideologies, religious backgrounds, and cultural beliefs. The landscape of this sector is forever changing be it by beings from another dimension or ambassadors from a realm of space called the Veil making it difficult for one to thrive.Item The Break(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-06-18) Tonn, LindaMarieThe Break is a Young Adult novel which takes place in a near-future United States. My main goal in writing my thesis was to pay homage to queer, YA, dystopia stories with my own. I drew inspiration from staples of adult literature such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Ready Player One. I reframed their themes of gender, sexuality, and identity for my Young Adult audience. I played with traditional YA conventions including first-person POV and dead and absent parents, with the goal of defying expectations of readers who are well-versed in the genre. Over the course of writing this novel I became increasingly aware of its political nature, and I eventually chose to confront the danger of conservative Christians in the US within the novel. This thesis is meant to not only entertain, but also highlight the violence conservative views inevitably lead to for queer youth.Item The God I Loved(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-06-18) Nichols, WilliamRaised in poverty in America’s Bible Belt, Nichols explores the events that lead him to him to convert to fundamentalist Christianity in his early twenties. Nichols then further explores the events that led him to denounce his faith almost two decades later. He details his experiences as a both a missionary and a pastor. He then discusses how his time spent as a soldier in Iraq allowed him to consider the inconsistencies he had witnessed within the church, causing him to doubt, and eventually abandon his religion. Nichols then discusses the impacts that fundamental evangelicalism has had and is having on American society, from the rise of the Alt-Right and Christian Nationalism to the election of Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Furthermore, Nichols discusses the ways in which Christianity has sought to rewrite the history of America in a bid to control the country’s future. The work itself is a hybrid of memoir, researched reporting, and social commentary interspersed with poetry. Through rich character development, credible reporting, and keen insight, this work brings a touch of humor and some much-needed critical thinking to the complexities of America’s current political and cultural landscape.Item The Million Dollar Club(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-06-18) Carter, MarleneThe Million Dollar Club is a suspense, romance novel written in third person point of view. The narrative involves several points of views as the story moves along. Amara Mackelroy, a young, college educated African American is the protagonist. Amara is inquisitive to the point of causing herself and others around her to get threatened or harmed. The antagonist, Ralph Simpson is a conflicted individual who has taken it upon himself to relieve the west coast of people he’s deemed are unnecessary and a menace to our society. He believes the only way to relieve our society of these vermin as he affectionately calls them is to kill them. The story has many twists and turns. The message or main point of the story is no one is above the law or has the right to decide who lives or dies. Love prevails against hate and the world is not always so black and white, right or wrong. The setting takes place in Seattle. The style of writing is simple, sometimes colloquial and humorous. The tone throughout the story is mysterious. You discover who one murderer is, but then the reader discovers there’s others who perpetuate his quest by providing money and assistance. Also, another killer evolves as the reader follow Amara as she doggedly uncovers clues and helps expose the second killer. The plot is filled with background information about the setting, situation and characters. The first conflict causes other problems to arise. In the end, the killers are identified and ulterior motives by minor characters are exposed.Item The Alafaya Collection(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-06-18) Bentley, LeeAlafaya is a novel told in stories spread across generations as one girl seeks to renew the bond between her land and magic. Conthesa is a young girl whose only wish was to grow up peacefully with her sisters on the edge of the woods. When a voice leads her to the infected World Tree, Conthesa becomes caught up in an ancient struggle between the shadowy lower realms, corrupted Kings, and the magic she has sworn to protect. The structure of events and varying points of view play a vital role in this novel. The stories shift perspectives to show how the choices made by some lead to new paths for others. Conthesa’s journey to understand the truth in the connections we make in life and the power they hold, are showcased through her gains and losses as she progresses through the narrative. Alafaya is a collection drawing on fairytales and legends of old to rethink what we know of the origin of myths.Item Kitchen Ethics: Writing Toward Vocation(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-01-09) Taylor, AlexanderThis collection of essays travels a path from working in restaurants, and studying abroad in Florence, to dealing with death and obsessively researching a chilling crime in Kalamazoo—all along the author’s route to becoming a journalist, and finding romance in between. Taylor makes unlikely decisions. His book utilizes unconventional forms, frank imagery, and a dark sense of humor. The question is: how do we figure out where to go, after becoming who we never expected to be?Item Atlas Was a Housekeeper(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-01-09) McMahon, DawnItem Middlemost(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-01-09) Liska, AnnItem The Midnight Mirrors(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-01-09) Herzog, Justin MarkThe Midnight Mirrors is a 97,000 fiction novel which tells the story of Augustus Lyre, a penmaker who wakes up the day after his wife’s funeral to discover that no one remembers her. The novel is constructed using the three act structure and with specific plot point markers such as those taught by Oklahoma Hall of Fame writer Jack Bickham. It strives to provide a solid foundation during the initial opening by: swiftly introducing the protagonist, establishing the story question and setting, providing an initial conflict from which the narrative can grow, providing clues regarding the antagonist and inciting incident, and laying the groundwork for future scenes and subsequent subplots which will unfold during the novel. Love and loss play central themes in this story, with love being the primary driving force that spurs the narrative forward and loss, and the threat of continued loss, serving as the constant consequence for the protagonist’s inaction or failure. Scene and Sequel techniques are used to ensure readability, with each scene being accompanied by a subsequent sequel which consists of protagonist’s: emotional reaction, logical review, anticipation of options, and choice. Specific plot markers occur at the 25%, 50%, and 75% points, including the elimination of secondary antagonists and completion of subplots. The climax follows the formula of: Protagonist isolation, Protagonist and antagonist confrontation, dark moment, protagonist choice, and finally, the resolution and answer to the primary story question concerning his wife’s disappearance.Item What Was Wanting: A Memoir(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-01-09) Duarte, MarilynBorn in Toronto to Portuguese-Canadian immigrants, Duarte explores crucial moments in her life in which an absent, abusive father’s reach impacts her childhood and extends through to her adulthood. Duarte details how she, and her family of women, were ostracized by the city’s Portuguese immigrant community of the 1970s-1990s, while also being marginalized by the dominant culture for their ethnicity and poverty. This memoir examines how patriarchy and poverty go hand-in-hand to thwart her survival as a child, while taking us to present day Toronto and Portugal, where the narrator, in an attempt to move beyond it, confronts her past. Using a variety of techniques, Duarte crafts a story of domestic and other kinds of violence, male dominance, the traditions that enable these dynamics to exist, home-grown feminism, and a woman’s strength in her struggle to survive and overcome. With rich character development, credible dialogue, and vivid imagery, this work brings a touch of humor and much grace to complex and painful situations.Item The Fish with a Limp(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-01-09) Delehunt, WilliamThe Fish with a Limp is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel set in the near future. The inciting incident is a supernova close enough to Earth which causes sterility in all the male great apes, including humans, which spells the extinction of humanity. The plot follows the actions of several characters as they deal with the slow death of the human species. When one fertile male is discovered, plans by various factions for control of the future are set in motion. Conceived as the first of two books, Fish explores the differences between love, lust, procreation and intimacy and the desire for control of one’s future versus one’s duty. It is a third person narrative from various perspectives.Item Like a Body in the Forest(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2020-01-09) Barron, BrittanyLike a Body in the Forest follows the speaker through what they think is the fall of their life. With feelings and emotions that change like the leaves, it is a collection of poetry about death, and also about love: two things so woven into our everyday lives we forget that they are roommates. Comprised of 45 poems, the collection moves you from dangerous behaviors and suicidal tendencies to thinking that maybe the world just wants you dead. It shadows the speaker as they remember long lost loves and the love they finally caught only to let it go. It addresses the strain depression and anxiety take on our life and choices we make that influence our own fate. Interlaced between the words is magic. The magic we wish existed in our world. The manuscript hangs in the ether, waiting to be cut down and grieved before winter comes and buries it in snow.