Prodigal is part one of what will be my first novel as a creative writer and follows Tate Jones at the intersection of his dark past and his new family life. Decades ago, the world of Prodigal endured a self-inflicted apocalyptic event known as the Collapse. Since then, society has evolved into sprawling mega-cities living under social and governmental mechanisms designed to grade people on their worth to the public. Tate, along with several other characters, suffered under these programs since birth and must decide how he will survive in a world that has regarded him as waste. It is my intention to present a story at the intersection of post-apocalyptic, dystopian, and science fiction to show how survival can range from saving one’s life to preserving one’s soul

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This thesis is a collection of short stories written over the years 2002 to 2006. The short story is a genre that requires brevity. The short story writer, instead of treating the totality of human life, is forever, as Frank O'Connor suggests, selecting the point at which he can approach it. For this reason, unlike the novel, there is very little dallying in the short story. The short story writer, as the form requires, must make his world believable and coherent with only a minimum of words. Based on the experience of the actual author, the short story, like all fiction, entertains and distracts us from our troubles, and broadens our knowledge of people and places. The short story seeks to create an image of the life process by which we feel ourselves moving toward meaning. In brief, the short story, if it is any good, does many things: it convinces us through what can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched in such a way as to render the highest possible justice to the physical world; it creates a vision that allows the reader to see different levels of meaning in one image or situation; it gets at the mystery of existence embodied in the prosaic of life as well as in the extraordinary; and it has a sense of immediacy. This work explores a variety of themes: the body's ability to remember and internalize both positive and negative actions; the perceived importance of money, status, and respect in marital relationships; how the inability to forgive can make the victim just as culpable as the offender; the middle ground between love and hate; and how sorrow and joy are necessary components for a well-adjusted life. The combined experience of reading this work should be, first, to entertain the reader, and, second, to allow him or her contact with the mystery of existence.

This creative thesis is a retelling of events as a collection of poems. Struggling with mental illness most of my life, I base most of my writing in this odd juxtaposition—the struggle for life alternating with my delight in its splendor. I find myself writing about the most challenging times in my life along with the most magnificent. The critical introduction explores and elaborates on the context and influences of my writing. Every line of poetry on every page has been a journey of reconciliation with my past and present—a journey deciphering who I am among all the leftovers of what I have been. An undeniably essential expedition.

"Latchkey: A Memoir in Essays" is an essay collection that follows the narrator through her childhood as it relates to being raised a latchkey kid in the 1980s. The lack of published academic studies that follow children through their experience as latchkey kids and into adulthood leaves personal exploration as the primary means through which a child, specifically a young girl, can seek understanding as to how her view of the world develops. Each of the five essays explores issues of autonomy, self-efficacy, sexuality, addiction, and familial bonds. It is through her reflection of specific events – the loss of a father to his addictions, caring for a mother in the early stages of dementia, recognizing the trauma of sexual abuse – that she gains a precarious understanding of how she perceives herself, the concept of unconditional love, and the world around her.

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My creative thesis, titled, The Recognition of Micro Poetry as a Literary Art Form across Time and Culture, is on micro poetry and its prevalence in the literary world of today and throughout history with examples of writings from past authors, like Emily Dickinson and William Carlos Williams and even as far back as Ancient Greece’s Sappho. Examples of my own micro poetry are included in the thesis. The period followed by two dashes, or .//, mark the beginning of each micro poem I have written. The poems end with one single dash, or /, and each poem is separated by two asterisks and a tilde, or *~*. I have also separated the poems in my thesis by themes. These poems show the relevance of micro poetry and the innovation one can achieve in writing such small works in today’s literature.

This thesis shows the creative process that fine artist Taylor Campbell went through while completing a painting show about the sexual assault epidemic on college campuses. Because she has been a victim of both sexual harassment and assault while attending college, she dives deeper into how she and other survivors cope with their trauma and uses her creative outlet to help get conversation started about the epidemic. She hopes with her research and her paintings that other survivors will realize they are not alone in their battles and are surrounded by people who are ready and willing to help. She also hopes that her work will inspire those who have not been affected by sexual violence will be inspired speak up when they see something unusual, and to be open and supportive to those who have been affected.

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