Prohibition had an unexpected side effect: writers who wanted to see themselves as creative nonconformists began to flaunt their relationship with alcohol, adopting the persona of the charmingly and recklessly defiant individualist. Alcohol has been imagined as the writer’s muse and has assumed a prominent role in countless works of fiction. My culminating project is a collection of stories and poetry with that common thread: alcohol. Borrowing from the Humanist Alternative of the Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve Steps, the collection is arranged into twelve sections, each headed by and inspired by a step in the program. My intent is not to disparage these steps but to illustrate how characters struggle with the principles of sobriety. Fiction can probe the profound effects of alcoholism on individuals, families, friends and society. My hope is that these pieces give the reader the opportunity to explore a character’s life and feelings and in this way perhaps give a face to the often complex experiences of alcoholism. As the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book asserts, storytelling can be healing medicine.
","abstract_html":"<p>Prohibition had an unexpected side effect: writers who wanted to see themselves as creative nonconformists began to flaunt their relationship with alcohol, adopting the persona of the charmingly and recklessly defiant individualist. Alcohol has been imagined as the writer’s muse and has assumed a prominent role in countless works of fiction. My culminating project is a collection of stories and poetry with that common thread: alcohol. Borrowing from the Humanist Alternative of the Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve Steps, the collection is arranged into twelve sections, each headed by and inspired by a step in the program. My intent is not to disparage these steps but to illustrate how characters struggle with the principles of sobriety. Fiction can probe the profound effects of alcoholism on individuals, families, friends and society. My hope is that these pieces give the reader the opportunity to explore a character’s life and feelings and in this way perhaps give a face to the often complex experiences of alcoholism. As the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book asserts, storytelling can be healing medicine.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Coates, Kevin McWilliams"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Graduate Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Joan Baranow, PhD","Thomas Burke, MFA"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:28Z","subjects":["Prohibition","Alcohol","Alcoholism","Short Stories","Creative Writing","Fiction","Poetry"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/49","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Joan Baranow, PhD","Thomas Burke, MFA"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Coates, Kevin McWilliams"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["1970-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Graduate Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Prohibition","Alcohol","Alcoholism","Short Stories","Creative Writing","Fiction","Poetry"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/49"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Prohibition had an unexpected side effect: writers who wanted to see themselves as creative nonconformists began to flaunt their relationship with alcohol, adopting the persona of the charmingly and recklessly defiant individualist. Alcohol has been imagined as the writer’s muse and has assumed a prominent role in countless works of fiction. My culminating project is a collection of stories and poetry with that common thread: alcohol. Borrowing from the Humanist Alternative of the Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve Steps, the collection is arranged into twelve sections, each headed by and inspired by a step in the program. My intent is not to disparage these steps but to illustrate how characters struggle with the principles of sobriety. Fiction can probe the profound effects of alcoholism on individuals, families, friends and society. My hope is that these pieces give the reader the opportunity to explore a character’s life and feelings and in this way perhaps give a face to the often complex experiences of alcoholism. As the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book asserts, storytelling can be healing medicine.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Twelve Rules for Drinking"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Joan Baranow, PhD","Thomas Burke, MFA"],"dc:creator":["Coates, Kevin McWilliams"],"dc:date.available":["1970-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Prohibition had an unexpected side effect: writers who wanted to see themselves as creative nonconformists began to flaunt their relationship with alcohol, adopting the persona of the charmingly and recklessly defiant individualist. Alcohol has been imagined as the writer’s muse and has assumed a prominent role in countless works of fiction. My culminating project is a collection of stories and poetry with that common thread: alcohol. Borrowing from the Humanist Alternative of the Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve Steps, the collection is arranged into twelve sections, each headed by and inspired by a step in the program. My intent is not to disparage these steps but to illustrate how characters struggle with the principles of sobriety. Fiction can probe the profound effects of alcoholism on individuals, families, friends and society. My hope is that these pieces give the reader the opportunity to explore a character’s life and feelings and in this way perhaps give a face to the often complex experiences of alcoholism. As the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book asserts, storytelling can be healing medicine.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/49"],"dc:subject":["Prohibition","Alcohol","Alcoholism","Short Stories","Creative Writing","Fiction","Poetry"],"dc:title":["Twelve Rules for Drinking"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Graduate Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:28Z"}