“Lies I’ve Told Myself” is a collection of essays that interrogate ideas of trauma, identity and memory. What happens when a middle-aged, Black woman leaves her frenetic job and slows down enough to hear the messages that she’s been too busy to notice? “Lies I’ve Told Myself” \"explores and illuminates the messiness that ensues when one challenges long-held ways of viewing the world and one’s place in it. “Lies” in the title refers to the narratives created to serve the self and the collection ponders the impact of this behavior. Through interiority, readers are brought into the personal struggles of the author as she wrestles with these concepts and considers how each has and should define her. These essays are in dialogue with memoirists, cultural commentators and the essay form itself. Through careful reflection and brutal honesty, these essays and selected poems document and celebrate the process that leads to life-changing epiphanies. One through-line is how vulnerability leads to meaningful connection with others. So what happens in the end? The author finds her humanity.
","abstract_html":"<p>“Lies I’ve Told Myself” is a collection of essays that interrogate ideas of trauma, identity and memory. What happens when a middle-aged, Black woman leaves her frenetic job and slows down enough to hear the messages that she’s been too busy to notice? “Lies I’ve Told Myself” "explores and illuminates the messiness that ensues when one challenges long-held ways of viewing the world and one’s place in it. “Lies” in the title refers to the narratives created to serve the self and the collection ponders the impact of this behavior. Through interiority, readers are brought into the personal struggles of the author as she wrestles with these concepts and considers how each has and should define her. These essays are in dialogue with memoirists, cultural commentators and the essay form itself. Through careful reflection and brutal honesty, these essays and selected poems document and celebrate the process that leads to life-changing epiphanies. One through-line is how vulnerability leads to meaningful connection with others. So what happens in the end? The author finds her humanity.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Roseboro, Rosalyn R"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Patricia Killelea"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:17Z","subjects":["memoir","identity","reflection","essay","race","trauma","Black","woman","Nonfiction"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/700","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Patricia Killelea"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Roseboro, Rosalyn R"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2027-03-31T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["memoir","identity","reflection","essay","race","trauma","Black","woman","Nonfiction"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/700"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["“Lies I’ve Told Myself” is a collection of essays that interrogate ideas of trauma, identity and memory. What happens when a middle-aged, Black woman leaves her frenetic job and slows down enough to hear the messages that she’s been too busy to notice? “Lies I’ve Told Myself” \"explores and illuminates the messiness that ensues when one challenges long-held ways of viewing the world and one’s place in it. “Lies” in the title refers to the narratives created to serve the self and the collection ponders the impact of this behavior. Through interiority, readers are brought into the personal struggles of the author as she wrestles with these concepts and considers how each has and should define her. These essays are in dialogue with memoirists, cultural commentators and the essay form itself. Through careful reflection and brutal honesty, these essays and selected poems document and celebrate the process that leads to life-changing epiphanies. One through-line is how vulnerability leads to meaningful connection with others. So what happens in the end? The author finds her humanity.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Lies I've Told Myself"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Patricia Killelea"],"dc:creator":["Roseboro, Rosalyn R"],"dc:date.available":["2027-03-31T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["“Lies I’ve Told Myself” is a collection of essays that interrogate ideas of trauma, identity and memory. What happens when a middle-aged, Black woman leaves her frenetic job and slows down enough to hear the messages that she’s been too busy to notice? “Lies I’ve Told Myself” \"explores and illuminates the messiness that ensues when one challenges long-held ways of viewing the world and one’s place in it. “Lies” in the title refers to the narratives created to serve the self and the collection ponders the impact of this behavior. Through interiority, readers are brought into the personal struggles of the author as she wrestles with these concepts and considers how each has and should define her. These essays are in dialogue with memoirists, cultural commentators and the essay form itself. Through careful reflection and brutal honesty, these essays and selected poems document and celebrate the process that leads to life-changing epiphanies. One through-line is how vulnerability leads to meaningful connection with others. So what happens in the end? The author finds her humanity.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/700"],"dc:subject":["memoir","identity","reflection","essay","race","trauma","Black","woman","Nonfiction"],"dc:title":["Lies I've Told Myself"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:17Z"}