This thesis is a collection of eleven short fiction stories written in a combination of genres including speculative, young adult, Southern gothic, and horror. It explores the experiences of Iranian diaspora and young women in rural communities such as East Texas. All the pieces in this collection are set in a fictionalized East Texas town named Pogue Woods to set stories in a unique and centralized location and explore the variety of people who live in these communities. Although the stories work to bring to life realistic people from the East Texas communities, the circumstances of the stories follow the speculative fiction process of exploring how normal people react to abnormal situations. Some of the authorial influences for my collection are Iranian writers such as Marjane Satrapi and Ottessa Moshfegh. Young adult and speculative authorial influences include writers Maggie Stiefvater, Kelly Link, and Quan Barry.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis is a collection of eleven short fiction stories written in a combination of genres including speculative, young adult, Southern gothic, and horror. It explores the experiences of Iranian diaspora and young women in rural communities such as East Texas. All the pieces in this collection are set in a fictionalized East Texas town named Pogue Woods to set stories in a unique and centralized location and explore the variety of people who live in these communities. Although the stories work to bring to life realistic people from the East Texas communities, the circumstances of the stories follow the speculative fiction process of exploring how normal people react to abnormal situations. Some of the authorial influences for my collection are Iranian writers such as Marjane Satrapi and Ottessa Moshfegh. Young adult and speculative authorial influences include writers Maggie Stiefvater, Kelly Link, and Quan Barry.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Nikravesh, Parastoo"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts - English","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. John McDermott","Dr. Lauren Burrow","Dr. Steven Marsden"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-05-05T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-05-05T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:45Z","subjects":["short fiction","fiction collection","speculative fiction","feminist fiction","Iranian-American Fiction","East Texas Fiction","Arts and Humanities","Creative Writing","Fiction"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/518","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. John McDermott","Dr. Lauren Burrow","Dr. Steven Marsden"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Nikravesh, Parastoo"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2028-05-03T07:00:00Z"]},{"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 Arts - English"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["short fiction","fiction collection","speculative fiction","feminist fiction","Iranian-American Fiction","East Texas Fiction","Arts and Humanities","Creative Writing","Fiction"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/518"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis is a collection of eleven short fiction stories written in a combination of genres including speculative, young adult, Southern gothic, and horror. It explores the experiences of Iranian diaspora and young women in rural communities such as East Texas. All the pieces in this collection are set in a fictionalized East Texas town named Pogue Woods to set stories in a unique and centralized location and explore the variety of people who live in these communities. Although the stories work to bring to life realistic people from the East Texas communities, the circumstances of the stories follow the speculative fiction process of exploring how normal people react to abnormal situations. Some of the authorial influences for my collection are Iranian writers such as Marjane Satrapi and Ottessa Moshfegh. Young adult and speculative authorial influences include writers Maggie Stiefvater, Kelly Link, and Quan Barry.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["TOWNIES: MATRIARCHS AND MAYHEM"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. John McDermott","Dr. Lauren Burrow","Dr. Steven Marsden"],"dc:creator":["Nikravesh, Parastoo"],"dc:date.available":["2028-05-03T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis is a collection of eleven short fiction stories written in a combination of genres including speculative, young adult, Southern gothic, and horror. It explores the experiences of Iranian diaspora and young women in rural communities such as East Texas. All the pieces in this collection are set in a fictionalized East Texas town named Pogue Woods to set stories in a unique and centralized location and explore the variety of people who live in these communities. Although the stories work to bring to life realistic people from the East Texas communities, the circumstances of the stories follow the speculative fiction process of exploring how normal people react to abnormal situations. Some of the authorial influences for my collection are Iranian writers such as Marjane Satrapi and Ottessa Moshfegh. Young adult and speculative authorial influences include writers Maggie Stiefvater, Kelly Link, and Quan Barry.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/518"],"dc:subject":["short fiction","fiction collection","speculative fiction","feminist fiction","Iranian-American Fiction","East Texas Fiction","Arts and Humanities","Creative Writing","Fiction"],"dc:title":["TOWNIES: MATRIARCHS AND MAYHEM"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts - English"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:45Z"}