Sitting in the Kitchen Sink
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Kramer, Kieran Wray
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My thesis contains five short stories and the opening chapter(s) of two unfinished novels, all of which reflect my interest in writing character-driven stories, some of them set in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where I grew up. Among the numerous influences I discovered while in the MFA in Creative Writing program are the short story writers George Saunders, Rebecca Lee, and Aimee Bender. I also garnered inspiration from Raymond Carver, Marilynne Robinson, Elena Ferrante, Zadie Smith, Paula Fox, Denis Johnson, Toni Morrison, and Jenny Offill. The many compelling short stories and novels I read by authors from countries around the world also opened me up as a reader and writer to new perspectives, which have in common the truth of suffering and the resilience of the human spirit. The title of my thesis comes from the first line of one of my favorite novels, <i>I Capture the Castle</i>, by Dodie Smith: "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink," pens the young narrator, Cassandra Mortmain, into her diary. Spilling her thoughts onto paper helps Cassandra bring clarity to her confusing world. She's also able to preserve, with her pen, the beauty she finds amid the chaos. My aim is to be that sort of writer.