Date of Award

5-2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.F.A.

Degree Program

Creative Writing

Department

English

Major Professor

Juyanne James

Second Advisor

M.O. Walsh

Third Advisor

Adrain Van Young

Abstract

This collection of short stories explores themes of displacement, belonging, survival, and personal transformation across a range of genres and narrative forms. Centering Black characters and perspectives, the stories examine how race, identity, and power shape the possibilities available within spaces that often assume a white, normative protagonist. Engaging contemporary social and political realities affecting Black, queer, neurodivergent, and other marginalized communities, the collection considers how familiar genre conventions shift when told through these perspectives. Across different settings and voices, characters confront disruption, loss, and uncertainty as familiar structures give way. As they navigate change, they search for meaning, stability, and connection while redefining home, identity, and purpose. Through moments of resilience, reflection, and uneasy transformation, the stories explore how individuals adapt when the ground beneath them shifts. At its core, the collection reflects on survival, creativity, and the ways community can emerge even in difficult circumstances.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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Available for download on Wednesday, April 23, 2031

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