Date

5-11-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

When I enrolled in my first creative nonfiction workshop my junior year of college, I was immediately taken with the genre. I had always loved writing, but I had never written about myself. Growing up I wrote fiction, and as I got older my writing was entirely comprised of academic pieces only. As soon as the nonfiction workshop allowed me to write about myself, I began using writing as a form of therapy and self-help. I was able to work through my feelings on the page and turn my emotional trauma, my regrets, and my embarrassments into artwork, which has truly been the most liberating experience of my life. I genuinely feel as though this project has encouraged my own growth as a person, friend, and writer more than any other experience I’ve had.

As soon as I heard about the honors program and the honors thesis, I was inspired to complete my own thesis in the creative nonfiction field and further develop my craft. One of the hardest parts of both starting and completing this project was figuring out exactly what I wanted it to be about. I decided to let my writing speak for itself and looked over past work, as well as the notebook of poems I started keeping as a result of the workshop, and observed a handful of prevalent and repeated themes in my writing. These themes included navigating a secure sense of self-identity as well as learning how to cope with mental health adversities such as depression and anxiety. The consequences that may arise from said mental health issues such as drug abuse also serve as prevalent themes, as well as the hope that can be found through a connection to the natural world. These themes were all transferred into this collection, The Air That Moves Between Us.

Department

English

Thesis Comittee

Dr. Sarah Fawn Montgomery, Thesis Advisor

Dr. Halina Adams, Committee Member

Prof. Bruce Machart, Committee Member

Copyright and Permissions

Original document was submitted as an Honors Program requirement. Copyright is held by the author.

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