“Based on a true story” applies to this collection of grief fractures. Each is based on a thread of someone’s true story of death and loss. A combination of autobiographic fiction and speculative non-fiction, these fractures create a thematic braiding of grief as they explore the human survival of significant loss. Dichotomies include the narrative voice as both inside the experience and outside, grief survivor yet physician observer, Native American and Far East ancestral energy, resistance to the ultimate acceptance of the path no longer linear but more as a cubist painting.
Grief and trauma writing teeters on the ledge where the truth shatters, resulting in pieces of unreality fusing into an entity that may barely resemble the former self. This manuscript is set in Appalachian Kentucky with nature imagery wherein the place and its culture frame each protagonist’s exploration. As they deconstruct their experience of grief, vacillate through past and present thinking, memorializing the lost one while struggling toward a new identity, grieve sexuality without the partner, fight addiction, relive child trauma, and limp through mental illness they exist in breath-by-breath survival.
The intended audience is anyone experiencing death and separation, cultural or environmental grief, or with an intent to find a balanced life after loss.
","abstract_html":"<p>“Based on a true story” applies to this collection of grief fractures. Each is based on a thread of someone’s true story of death and loss. A combination of autobiographic fiction and speculative non-fiction, these fractures create a thematic braiding of grief as they explore the human survival of significant loss. Dichotomies include the narrative voice as both inside the experience and outside, grief survivor yet physician observer, Native American and Far East ancestral energy, resistance to the ultimate acceptance of the path no longer linear but more as a cubist painting. </p> <p>Grief and trauma writing teeters on the ledge where the truth shatters, resulting in pieces of unreality fusing into an entity that may barely resemble the former self. This manuscript is set in Appalachian Kentucky with nature imagery wherein the place and its culture frame each protagonist’s exploration. As they deconstruct their experience of grief, vacillate through past and present thinking, memorializing the lost one while struggling toward a new identity, grieve sexuality without the partner, fight addiction, relive child trauma, and limp through mental illness they exist in breath-by-breath survival. </p> <p>The intended audience is anyone experiencing death and separation, cultural or environmental grief, or with an intent to find a balanced life after loss. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bates, Artie Ann"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"English and Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:00Z","subjects":["Aging","Environmental","Grief","Loss","Mental Illness","Relationship","Creative Writing"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2020 Artie Ann Bates"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/684","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bates, Artie Ann"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English and Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Aging","Environmental","Grief","Loss","Mental Illness","Relationship","Creative Writing"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2020 Artie Ann Bates"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/684"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["“Based on a true story” applies to this collection of grief fractures. Each is based on a thread of someone’s true story of death and loss. A combination of autobiographic fiction and speculative non-fiction, these fractures create a thematic braiding of grief as they explore the human survival of significant loss. Dichotomies include the narrative voice as both inside the experience and outside, grief survivor yet physician observer, Native American and Far East ancestral energy, resistance to the ultimate acceptance of the path no longer linear but more as a cubist painting.
Grief and trauma writing teeters on the ledge where the truth shatters, resulting in pieces of unreality fusing into an entity that may barely resemble the former self. This manuscript is set in Appalachian Kentucky with nature imagery wherein the place and its culture frame each protagonist’s exploration. As they deconstruct their experience of grief, vacillate through past and present thinking, memorializing the lost one while struggling toward a new identity, grieve sexuality without the partner, fight addiction, relive child trauma, and limp through mental illness they exist in breath-by-breath survival.
The intended audience is anyone experiencing death and separation, cultural or environmental grief, or with an intent to find a balanced life after loss.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Widows' Breath: Grief Fractures"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Bates, Artie Ann"],"dc:description.abstract":["“Based on a true story” applies to this collection of grief fractures. Each is based on a thread of someone’s true story of death and loss. A combination of autobiographic fiction and speculative non-fiction, these fractures create a thematic braiding of grief as they explore the human survival of significant loss. Dichotomies include the narrative voice as both inside the experience and outside, grief survivor yet physician observer, Native American and Far East ancestral energy, resistance to the ultimate acceptance of the path no longer linear but more as a cubist painting.
Grief and trauma writing teeters on the ledge where the truth shatters, resulting in pieces of unreality fusing into an entity that may barely resemble the former self. This manuscript is set in Appalachian Kentucky with nature imagery wherein the place and its culture frame each protagonist’s exploration. As they deconstruct their experience of grief, vacillate through past and present thinking, memorializing the lost one while struggling toward a new identity, grieve sexuality without the partner, fight addiction, relive child trauma, and limp through mental illness they exist in breath-by-breath survival.
The intended audience is anyone experiencing death and separation, cultural or environmental grief, or with an intent to find a balanced life after loss.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/684"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2020 Artie Ann Bates"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Aging","Environmental","Grief","Loss","Mental Illness","Relationship","Creative Writing"],"dc:title":["Widows' Breath: Grief Fractures"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English and Theatre"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:00Z"}