Date of Award
8-2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
English
Program
Creative Writing (MFA)
First Advisor/Chairperson
Jon Billman
Abstract
This collection of prose and poetry considers what it means to exist in a space that hovers above the Appalachian border, where tradition and progress clash and meld in surprising and often transformative ways. Identity is constructed in part through the experience of environment, and this work seeks to unpack and reimagine an ever-changing sense of self. The pieces included in this collection question regional notions of religion, faith, love, marriage, motherhood, and what it means to both love and resist one’s place of origin.
The Fear of Drowning is a culmination of fiction, poetry, and essays that blur the lines of confession and imagination. Each individual piece works in conversation with the whole. Fiction merges into poetry and finally lands in an undeniable desire to somehow return home.
Recommended Citation
Kauffman, Christen N., "THE FEAR OF DROWNING" (2016). All NMU Master's Theses. 115.
https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/115
Access Type
Open Access