Anthology Project: Spring 2024

Anthologies now available on Amazon.com!

During the Spring 2024 semester, students in Professor Jim O'Loughlin's Craft of Fiction class conceived, designed, and wrote anthologies of original fiction. Three distinct works emerged from this project: a speculative compilation on monsters, a thriller written as a collective novel, and an experimental collection based on the surrealist concept of the "exquisite corpse." Check out more detailed information on each anthology below. These projects are available in both digital and print formats from Amazon.com. Purple Paw Press (the imprint of the Department of Languages & Literatures) is the publisher of these anthologies. Production assistance was provided by students in Professor Adrienne Lamberti's Introduction to Professional Writing class.

Monsters Declassified
Kate Hansen, Elijah Mishmash, Rebecca Mullinex, William Spielbauer & Mo Zerr

Monsters Declassified

Monsters are not just folktales, not just myths, and not just your fellow humans. They are much worse than that. They are the things that lure you into the dark and make you afraid of it. They have been around since time immemorial. Monsters are hidden from us by people who are perhaps wiser than us. They are hidden by people who think we shouldn't know. We disagree. People died to tell these stories. Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain. Read these accounts. Protect yourself. Don’t let yourself be added to the body count.

Nexus Six
Samantha Davis, Jasmyne Harrison, Mackenzie Howard, Tomiisin Ilesanmi, Alyssa Oliver, Nathan Southard

Nexus Six

Six people. Six rooms. Six objects.

When a prostitute, gang member, teen mom, high school dropout, black hat hacker, and child find themselves trapped in separate rooms designed especially for them and containing only one object of their choice, they rediscover memories from their past and break free of both themselves and their prisons. As the characters come together, they work to unfold the mystery before them to discover who brought them there and how they might escape. . . or if they even can.

Some Context Required
Callee Fair, Alex Fowler, Paige Guthrie, Paige Nelson, Ty Piper, and Ravn Stevensdóttir

Some Context Required

Read about heartbreak, ghostly grandmothers, mythology, tragedy, murder, and betrayal in a collection of stories that defy writing norms and embrace the madness of writers’ imaginations.