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Date of Award

Spring 2025

Document Type

Masters Thesis (Campus-Only Access)

Department or Program Affiliation

English

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

First Advisor

Wong, Jane

Second Advisor

Trueblood, Kathryn R., 1960-

Third Advisor

Brown, Nicole R.

Abstract

In the wake of my father’s death, I excavate my relationship to him by moving across and against time. I write through my childhood traumas, our estrangement, and the experience of his death. Those events constellate to encompass others in my life: a pivotal romantic relationship and a period of devastating mental health, as well as my father’s childhood and early adulthood. I speculate about alternative realities where things went differently. I imagine my father’s motives and desires. I layer narrative upon narrative, each lending a new hue to the story as a whole.

Type

Text

Keywords

addiction, father, memoir, abuse, sexual assault, childhood, grief, death, estrangement, mental health, relationships

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1520284295

Subject – LCSH

Fathers and daughters; Psychic trauma; Sexual assault; Alcoholism; Parents--Death; Estranged families

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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