Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Fine Arts
Major
Creative Writing
Date of Defense
12-3-2019
Graduate Advisor
Iveliss Rodriguez
Committee
Shane Seely
Brian Blair
Abstract
The stories in this collection occupy a range of genres: realist literary fiction, slice of life, horror, magical realism/fabulism. While most of the pieces are short fiction, there is one short short, and one flash piece. What unites these disparate styles and forms is a concern with the everyday, with family dramas. Flightless is interested in exploring the dynamics of different familial relationships, particularly that of mothers and their children. These relationships, even good ones, can be fraught with expectations, guilt, and feelings of obligation unique to the expected roles of mothers and children, and my stories seek to investigate these places of tension. The magical realist and fabulist tales within this collection take inspiration from writers like Karen Russell and Brenda Peynado, and they attempt to pay homage to their desire not just to tell interesting tales, but to use interesting language to do so. The title of this collection reflects the state many of my characters currently occupy. Something in their life is keeping them tethered to the ground, unable to move onward.
Recommended Citation
Gorin, Danielle, "Flightless" (2019). Theses. 361.
https://irl.umsl.edu/thesis/361