A Collection of Essays and Short Stories

• Main Author: Hudson, Roberta T.
• Format: Others
• Published: VCU Scholars Compass 2016
• Subjects: essays; short stories; Terre Haute; Virginia; Russia; Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4216; http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5183&context=etd

The following thesis is composed of two parts: a collection of nonfiction essays and a collection of short stories. All of the works collected here were completed during my four years of study at VCU. The nonfiction essays are part of a larger memoir concerning my family’s ancestral farm in Powhatan County, Virginia. They deal with the history of that farm, its legacies (both emotional and physical), the people who have lived there during the past three hundred years, my attempts to find freedom from the burden of history, and an exploration of the ephemeral nature of all things. The short story collection is based on experiences and people I have encountered during my many travels to St. Petersburg, Russia. They are largely concerned with how ordinary people are affected by that country’s current social and political climate, and the universality of human experience