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- Genre: Fiction--Authorship.
- Genre: Music--Social aspects--Arizona--Flagstaff--History--19th century.
- Creators: Arizona State University
Description
This essay is an exploration of Michael Holladay's interests in style and influence related to his writing and overall writing process. I've chosen a selection of books that both reflect my interests as a writer, books that I've loved and have informed me in the past which continue to inform and inspire on each re-read (Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, for example) and also books I hadn't read and needed to in order to challenge myself with writing I haven't been exposed to yet so I can continue to grow (I hadn't, for instance, read Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson or Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel before preparation for this essay.) The fiction I've chosen to discuss strikes a balance between favorites that have formed me up to this point and new work to "fill in the gaps" of books I needed to read. Additionally, I've chosen a selection of books on craft to provide a lens for thinking about writing. Finally, I've also included work in other genres that inform my fiction (Ryan van Meter's creative nonfiction essays, If You Knew Then What I Know Now and Andrew Haigh's film, Weekend.)
I've intentionally chosen work that is diverse in both form and content. I have more linear fiction represented (William Trevor, for example) matched with work that's fragmentary and language focused (Christine Schutt's Nightwork among others) since I'm interested in how linear form and fragmentation can intersect, and I've been experimenting with both during my time in the program. And in terms of content, the majority of the work speaks to my interest in how region, specifically the South, impresses itself on sexuality and gender, specifically queer or decentered sexuality and gender. So I have books with a heavy focus on region (Daddy's by Lindsay Hunter and Girl Trouble by Holly Goddard Jones) and work that explores the complexities of sexuality and identity (Michael Cunningham, Edmund White, Alexander Chee, and I'll mention Haigh's film Weekend again because it's always worth mentioning again.) These works will help synthesize and bring together my interests in style, language, structure, and form, and in content.
I've intentionally chosen work that is diverse in both form and content. I have more linear fiction represented (William Trevor, for example) matched with work that's fragmentary and language focused (Christine Schutt's Nightwork among others) since I'm interested in how linear form and fragmentation can intersect, and I've been experimenting with both during my time in the program. And in terms of content, the majority of the work speaks to my interest in how region, specifically the South, impresses itself on sexuality and gender, specifically queer or decentered sexuality and gender. So I have books with a heavy focus on region (Daddy's by Lindsay Hunter and Girl Trouble by Holly Goddard Jones) and work that explores the complexities of sexuality and identity (Michael Cunningham, Edmund White, Alexander Chee, and I'll mention Haigh's film Weekend again because it's always worth mentioning again.) These works will help synthesize and bring together my interests in style, language, structure, and form, and in content.
ContributorsHolladay, Michael (Author) / Ison, Tara (Thesis advisor) / Pritchard, Melissa (Committee member) / Bell, Matt (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Although one finds much scholarship on nineteenth-century music in America, one finds relatively little about music in the post-Civil-War frontier west. Generalities concerning small frontier towns of regional importance remain to be discovered. This paper aims to contribute to scholarship by chronicling musical life in the early years of two such towns in northern Arizona territory: Prescott and Flagstaff. Prescott, adjacent to Fort Whipple, was founded in 1864 to serve as capital of the new territory. Primarily home to soldiers and miners, the town was subject to many challenges of frontier life. Flagstaff, ninety miles to the north-northwest, was founded about two decades later in 1883 during the building of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, which connected the town to Albuquerque, New Mexico in the east and southern California in the west. Although the particular resources of each town provided many different musical opportunities, extant newspaper articles from Prescott's Arizona Miner and Flagstaff's Arizona Champion describe communities in which musical concerts, dances and theatrical performances provided entertainment and socializing for its citizens. Furthermore, music was an important part of developing institutions such as the church, schools, and fraternal lodges, and the newspapers of both towns advertised musical instruments and sheet music. Both towns were home to amateur musicians, and both offered the occasional opportunity to learn to dance or play an instrument. Although territorial Arizona was sometimes harsh and resources were limited, music was valued in these communities and was a consistent presence in frontier life.
ContributorsJohnson, Amber V (Author) / Oldani, Robert W. (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Saucier, Catherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011