Date of Award
Spring 2019
Document Type
Embargoed Thesis
Call Number
PS3623.O677 F67 2018
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Stonecoast
First Advisor
Susan Conley
Second Advisor
Suzanne Strempek Shea
Third Advisor
Justin Tussing
Abstract
Forest Circus is a collection of short fiction patterned by people relating with their landscapes (as in: places to which people belong), and by a geography of North America’s less-populated interior. These places are all in or near public lands, places where many different kinds of values reside and interact. The author explores various ways fiction can help re-wild modern civilization, help individuals re-connect with the “other” in recognition of our common ecological interdependencies. ‘Others’ can mean people from different places or perspectives, such as an old Wyoming logger or a young African refugee. Other-than-human realities of plants and rivers, horses and windigos also connect with readers in these stories. Re-wilding can be a movement away from the many separations that threaten to eliminate the future. Claiming connections can demonstrate possibilities toward a resurgence of the larger, ancient, humanity of humankind.
Recommended Citation
Woods, Sidney, "Forest Circus: Short Stories" (2019). Stonecoast MFA Theses and Capstones. 71.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/stonecoast/71
