Short stories -- 21st century

Overview

From horror-movie gore, to sword swallowing, to breaking the Galaga score counter, strange obsessions lie at the core of this short-story collection. These obsessions often come in the form of unsolvable mysteries that characters are compelled to resolve.

Overview "This collection of stories explores the realities and abstractions of loss and endings, and the far-reaching consequences of actions made in haste, doubt, or denial. Beginning with a series of flash stories ranging from realistic to absurd, the collection observes the briefest of instants in the lives of the drunk, the criminal, and the lost. From there, 'Despair,' a novella in thirty-four parts, mimics the descending spiral of Dante Alighieri's 'Inferno' as a young man struggles with an...

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Whether motivated by infatuation, fear, or ambition, the characters in the following stories find themselves taking hopeful risks. While a few reflect on their results, and others attempt to reconcile, some pass straight into the ether. --Abstract.

Overview "Acid Base Daughters follows primarily women at points of transformation, transition states, in their lives. A grieving woman discovers glass animals that come alive only in her presence. A pair of daughters try to remedy traumas using chemistry. A command-giving, ever- evolving bird refuses to leave one woman. A nurse collects mothers. A ballerina navigates desire on and off stage. And a strange circus brings one girl more than she asked for. Through explorations of grief and loss, longing,...

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"This collection of stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 29 pages, represents my experiments in the short story form over the last three years. The settings of the stories are diverse, but each addresses an aspect of the alien experience of life with other people."--Abstract.

Overview "All That Passes is a collection of seven stories linked by the theme of death. More precisely, the stories explore the experiences and narratives that surround death, based on the understanding that the event of passing is one that everybody encounters at least once in their life. The genres vary from literary realism to speculative and weird fiction. All That Passes is an ongoing project with the purpose of drawing death as close as one can manage in life. The collection includes stories...

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"These stories paint a vivid picture of love and grief in their innumerable forms. They encompass that raw and all-consuming feeling of wanting and needing to get away. This collection comments on generational trauma and the immigrant experience. In unconventional short shorts and traditional short story form, they explore what it means to survive, to be a family, and what it takes to follow your arrow wherever it may lead." -- Abstract

Overview "The purpose of this thesis is to showcase eight individual stories of fiction that are connected by distinct literary themes. These themes include parenthood and its subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle fallabilities [sic]; emotional disorientation; and the complexities of individualism. In lieu of traditional happy endings, I am examining how characters with unfortunate circumstances can learn to accept themselves for who they are, rather than who they are not. The goal behind this is...

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"This thesis is a collection of fictional stories linking together the brokenheartedness of locational displacement. The stories closely follow characters toggling back and forth between a past they once knew and a present they will never belong to. These stories explore central themes of the American Dream concerning Caribbean migration, isolation, and assimilation, all present in the landscape that is the American society." -- Abstract

Overview "From villages on the Turkish-Syrian border, to the bustling neighborhoods of Istanbul, Black Sea by the Handful spans the varied locales of Turkey through five stories following such people as an exhausted florist training a neighborhood stray to blow up the president, a smuggler trafficking a girl who claims to be pregnant via parthenogenesis, a swimmer hoping to escape the gravity of Soma mine, a father who loses his three daughters in the wake of the Gezi Park protests, and the daughter...

Overview "'Broken Little Beauties' is a collection of stories, each exploring the struggles of their flawed characters and worlds. These stories vary both in size and genre, ranging from literary to fantasy to strange fiction (and spreading across flash fiction, short story, and novelette). Follow the disturbing cyclical nature of life in 'Two Shawls,' and the struggles of an abused boy who's dream blurs with reality in 'The Woods, the Spider,' and join Markus's hunting trials on the dangerous island...

Overview "When people ask me where I'm from, they get a few seconds of silence from me. What do you tell people if you were born in one place, grew up in another, and live elsewhere? How did you end up where you are now? Who are you? Where do you belong? Those were questions that translated into six stories in this collection. They are populated by dislocated characters who grapple with identity and race while navigating complex familial relationships. The stories are set in Madagascar, known to the...

Overview "Deadweight Slump is a collection of short stories by Kā'ai Sutton Fernandez that explores the motif of isolation, specifically the ways that physical, emotional, and social isolation manifests through relationships particular to those in a guardianship. Part of the human experience is stepping up to help, assist, guide, or protect others, as well as being in need of guidance or protection. At the heart of each story in this collection is the relationship between those who need help and...

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A collection of stories that centers on characters whose lives are disrupted or bound together by secrets -- those that protect or inhibit them from what they desire the most. --Abstract.

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"A collection of stories that follow characters who are broken in some way. They rage in their narrative space, having been abandoned by all including their author. Violent, lonely, and with a smidge of sentiment, these characters come together to say, 'Hey. Listen. Let me tell you what happened.' They do so in their own unique voice whether they are willing or not." -- Abstract.

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"A collection of short stories that examines the themes of loss, indecision, and peculiar circumstance."--Abstract.

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Two short stories and an excerpt from The unbecoming of Ernie Thomson, a novel in progress.

Overview "For All That Is Good and Holy is a collection of short stories by Breanna Berkebile that examines taboo topics within the Christian community. From purity culture to deceptive leadership, each story seeks to elucidate how these issues negatively impact those who are young and impressionable while maintaining a level of care for the religion and those who practice it. The discussion surrounding these topics is growing and evolving, and the goal of this collection is to be a part of...

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"The collection of short stories explores the themes of addiction, fear and greed. The complex characters struggle to find their place in life. The protagonists range from a struggling musician trying to kick a drug habit to a woman trying to forgive her father. Throughout the collection there are many twist and turns. The suspense unfolds slowly giving hints of the protagonist's future. Regrets and life lessons are at the heart of these stories." -- Abstract

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Collection of six linked stories depicting a family's struggle to come to terms with marriage, motherhood, illness and loss. --Abstract.