Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Stonecoast
First Advisor
Robert Levy
Second Advisor
Nancy Holder
Third Advisor
Justin Tussing
Abstract
We and the Woods is a collection of three short stories and an excerpt from the novel-in-progress The Spinney. Spanning a range of genres from horror to science fiction, these pieces explore our yearning for connection, the violence and grace of time, and the responsibilities we hold to ourselves, to our loved ones, and to the natural world.
"Come the Monsters" explores familial trauma and the slow journey towards acceptance of oneself as well as the fact that other people are, at heart, unknowable. "A Brief History of Dowsing" delves into violence against women on a scale that is both vast and claustrophobically intimate. "Endling" demands justice for the slow violence of climate change. Finally, The Spinney wonders whether connection is possible when truth is subjective, and what we owe the people and places we've hurt.
Together, they speak to the helplessness, the rage, and the stubborn desire to do better that damn and define us in equal measure.
Recommended Citation
Evans, Jacqueline, "We and the Woods" (2020). Stonecoast MFA Theses and Capstones. 129.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/stonecoast/129
