The following manuscript is a hybrid artifact; a book-length poem-essay and visual artwork. The driving movement propelling the piece forward is that of an imagined (or enacted) epistolary correspondence between myself and my undergraduate mentor, Monica Berlin—who passed away in November of 2022. The manuscript is set up in the form of call and response. Each of the sections beginning with, “Dear Lauren,” quote directly from a letter Berlin wrote to me in 2018 as a response to my undergraduate writing portfolio. Each of the sections beginning, “Dear Monica,” are made up of my response back (re-contextualized through my interaction with the letter now, as opposed to when I first received it). The ensuing conversation that unfolds over these pages is a meditation on grief as well as the closeness, tensions, and distances that exist within our most intimate and meaningful relationships. It is an attempt to speak to (and through) the dead as well as the living.
","abstract_html":"<p>The following manuscript is a hybrid artifact; a book-length poem-essay and visual artwork. The driving movement propelling the piece forward is that of an imagined (or enacted) epistolary correspondence between myself and my undergraduate mentor, Monica Berlin—who passed away in November of 2022. The manuscript is set up in the form of call and response. Each of the sections beginning with, “Dear Lauren,” quote directly from a letter Berlin wrote to me in 2018 as a response to my undergraduate writing portfolio. Each of the sections beginning, “Dear Monica,” are made up of my response back (re-contextualized through my interaction with the letter now, as opposed to when I first received it). The ensuing conversation that unfolds over these pages is a meditation on grief as well as the closeness, tensions, and distances that exist within our most intimate and meaningful relationships. It is an attempt to speak to (and through) the dead as well as the living.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sparks, Lauren"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Matt Frank"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:36Z","subjects":["Correspondence","collaboration","nervous system","limbs","artifact","loss","memory","mentorship","and motherhood.","Poetry"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/833","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Matt Frank"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sparks, Lauren"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2029-04-30T07:00:00Z"]},{"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":["Correspondence","collaboration","nervous system","limbs","artifact","loss","memory","mentorship","and motherhood.","Poetry"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/833"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The following manuscript is a hybrid artifact; a book-length poem-essay and visual artwork. The driving movement propelling the piece forward is that of an imagined (or enacted) epistolary correspondence between myself and my undergraduate mentor, Monica Berlin—who passed away in November of 2022. The manuscript is set up in the form of call and response. Each of the sections beginning with, “Dear Lauren,” quote directly from a letter Berlin wrote to me in 2018 as a response to my undergraduate writing portfolio. Each of the sections beginning, “Dear Monica,” are made up of my response back (re-contextualized through my interaction with the letter now, as opposed to when I first received it). The ensuing conversation that unfolds over these pages is a meditation on grief as well as the closeness, tensions, and distances that exist within our most intimate and meaningful relationships. It is an attempt to speak to (and through) the dead as well as the living.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["THIS NOW WHICH IS TO SAY YOU"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Matt Frank"],"dc:creator":["Sparks, Lauren"],"dc:date.available":["2029-04-30T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The following manuscript is a hybrid artifact; a book-length poem-essay and visual artwork. The driving movement propelling the piece forward is that of an imagined (or enacted) epistolary correspondence between myself and my undergraduate mentor, Monica Berlin—who passed away in November of 2022. The manuscript is set up in the form of call and response. Each of the sections beginning with, “Dear Lauren,” quote directly from a letter Berlin wrote to me in 2018 as a response to my undergraduate writing portfolio. Each of the sections beginning, “Dear Monica,” are made up of my response back (re-contextualized through my interaction with the letter now, as opposed to when I first received it). The ensuing conversation that unfolds over these pages is a meditation on grief as well as the closeness, tensions, and distances that exist within our most intimate and meaningful relationships. It is an attempt to speak to (and through) the dead as well as the living.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/833"],"dc:subject":["Correspondence","collaboration","nervous system","limbs","artifact","loss","memory","mentorship","and motherhood.","Poetry"],"dc:title":["THIS NOW WHICH IS TO SAY YOU"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:36Z"}