Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Program/Concentration

Creative Writing

Committee Director

Kent Wascom

Committee Member

John McManus

Committee Member

Marianne Chan

Abstract

In Benjamin Percy’s keynote for Uncharted via Zoom, he stated he always carries around a Swiss Army knife. After he shared experiences of using his Swiss Army knife in real time, he suggest I and the rest of the attendees get one for our fiction. This writing advice fits the sentiment of his craft book, Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction, which I recommend to anyone who will hear me. In Percy’s essays and online lecture, I found someone with similar views about the craft of fiction. I approach fiction from the standpoint of being prepared for anything, even if that means I must improvise. There is no problem my Swiss Army knife can’t solve. With that being said, my novel—Prince Thirteen—tested my multitool.

Set in Portsmouth, Virginia, Prince Thirteen is about Kamari, a young, black man who can’t leave his house without being burned alive due to a curse his neighbor, Bernard, casted on him during his birth. Kamari can only free himself through true love’s first kiss, but Bernard won’t sit around and let Ximena—a young, black woman determined to save her father from dying of cancer—free him. They clash in hopes of fulfilling their potential and freeing themselves from their complicated predicaments.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25777/g34d-1e52

ISBN

9798197809193

Download

Available for download on Thursday, May 03, 2029

Share

COinS