Miriam Moore-Keish ’19
Every semester, senior English majors complete their capstone projects. Every semester, sleep and free time decrease and heart rates and literary outputs from Old Main increase. After participating in a literature capstone course in the fall, I was excited to catch up with creative writing majors Brynna Davis ’19 and Koada Heacock ’19 to see what new literature they are creating and what advice they have for any future generations of English seniors. This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
What is your capstone about?
Davis: My capstone is about the new town librarian who happens to be a vampire and his cranky neighbor. The new librarian in a town in the middle of nowhere, James M. Williamson, is young and beautiful, ripe for the bored, rich middle-aged wives with too much time on their hands. But his lack of understanding about modern trends and dress, his overly formal speech and old-fashioned ideas, and, you know, the strange trips he makes to the forest in the middle of the night to feast on the blood of animals are cause for concern. Harriet Miller [his neighbor] sets her sights on uncovering James’s secrets. But Harriet is drawn to James for her own selfish reasons and the two continue to grow close, even after Harriet finds out about James’s true self.
Heacock: This semester I worked on a magical realist thriller novel titled Coyote Vicious. The novel is about Levi Wiley, a young 23 year old woman who wants nothing more than to murder her own father. He is a longtime sufferer of a mysterious illness, which has caused nothing but pain and displacement within their family. With no chance of recovery, Levi is haunted by his suffering and returns from college to her hometown in the hopes of finding some way to end it. The Trickster god, Coyote, appears to her and offers to kill her father himself for a price he is unwilling to reveal. Though tempted to take the deal, Levi’s great grandmother, Sleeps-Like-Bear, warns that deals with the Coyote hardly ever end well. She also learns that her father’s illness is far more than it appears, with dire consequences for the Wiley family, should they let it kill him. Coyote, desperate for Levi to accept his deal, steals her father’s soul, setting the young woman on a quest to retrieve it and save her family. Along the way, familial secrets and misdeeds continuously unfold, leading her to consider more closely the Coyote’s offer. Levi must face up to her own demons, and reconcile with the people she left behind to care for her father, without her.
How did you decide on your topic?
Davis: This capstone came about because my [elementary] school had its own rumors about a witch. There was a house by the playground that always looked spooky and dark, even in broad daylight, and was called the witch’s house. One Halloween, my dumb childhood self who would have died if she was in an actual horror movie, decided to visit the witch’s house on Halloween. She turned out to just be a nice, college student and not the evil hag I was hoping for. When I was trying to figure out what to write about, I remembered the witch rumors back in grade school and thought, what if that weird person in town that everyone gossips about is actually a supernatural creature? Also, I just thought it would be funny to write about a socially inept vampire who keeps getting into awkward situations.
Heacock: I began this project because my father is currently in hospice, and has been for around four years now, for late stage Multiple Sclerosis. Through this story I hoped to explore some of my own experience with grief and with the concept of merciful euthanasia, through a highly fictionalized lens. I figured fictionalizing my experiences would allow me to be more truthful about my feelings and thoughts, and explore them in abstract depth [which] I would not otherwise be comfortable doing. I’ve included a lot of folklore and magical elements heavily deriving from Native American folklore, as I am myself Native, having grown up on a reservation in Northern Montana, which is where the novel takes place. When I was younger, we had an elder, Plesueh (Francis in Salish), come to our classroom every other day and teach us Salish, or tell us traditional Salish stories. It has been interesting navigating some of the rules which accompany those stories, specifically because my main character is Coyote, who you’re not supposed to tell stories about until there is snow on the ground. Or else a snake will bite you. Likewise, in my story Coyote is a bit of an antagonist, which is not necessarily the case in much of the stories about him, where he is mostly a trickster who occasionally toes the line of evil. It is interesting to incorporate aspects of oral storytelling into a written format. There are also plenty of elements drawn from other cultures’ folklore (German, Nordic, etc.), but there is definitely an emphasis on Native tales.
What advice do you have for future students completing capstones in creative writing?
Davis: Don’t force ideas. Make sure to set aside time to write, but to also go relax and sleep when you get stuck, so you can come back to your writing with a fresh mind. But seriously, make sure to set aside time to sleep because I didn’t and I regret everything.
Heacock: Pick something you’re passionate about rather than what you think might be “good.”
What are some of the payoffs and challenges of your capstone experience?
Davis: I really like my class and professor. They’ve given me great feedback that has helped improve my capstone. We’ve also gotten into lots of weird conversations about vampire physiology and such, so it’s been a good time. The challenge I’m facing is keeping this a horror comedy. Parts of the story are supposed to be funny and absurd, but there’s also a lot of drama and darkness I need to balance with it.
Heacock: It’s been really cool to be held accountable for a single project. Once you get over the first phase you have of hating it, it’s easier sailing from there. Still obviously a pain in the ass sometimes, but definitely has given me the discipline to stick with a project longer than like one month.
Please enjoy a sample of Brynna Davis’ and Koada Heacock’s capstone projects.
Sample from Brynna Davis’ capstone project:
“That’s quite kind of you, ma’am—”
“Oh, none of this ‘ma’am’ stuff. Call me Harriet.” She objected.
“But—Ah, of course, Harriet.”
She nodded at him, giving him another smile. She turned, heading toward the door. He followed after her, relieved that she was leaving when she suddenly stopped.
“Oh, and dear? No need to hide that lovely lady of yours.”
James froze. “Um, lady?”
“Yes, the one you shut the door in my face to hide.” She replied, giving him a look.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” He laughed nervously.
“I raised four boys and none of them were good enough to hide their girlfriends from me. You certainly weren’t.” She said, giving him another smile before opening the door and shutting it in his flabbergasted face.
James stood there for a moment, staring at the door, before he turned a murderous look towards the upstairs.
Sample from Koada Heacock’s Coyote Vicious:
I thought about killing him.
I always thought about killing him.
Every time I watched his chest rise and fall was torture. Those rickety breaths swam over to me, wriggled between my bones and made me itchy.
It would be so easy to kill him.
Love and violence have become inseparable to me. The love I felt for my father consumed me, made me passionately vicious. I thought about how much I would love to see his blood spurt from his neck and stain the white sterile blankets and pillows until it was all scarlet and ruined. Other patients shouldn’t ever be able to touch his blankets and pillows. I imagined all the blood that would pour out from his neck, warm and sticky onto my hands. He’d gleam up at me with those yellow eyes, from underneath all that gore, grateful.
I don’t know why I could never imagine killing him softly, with a well placed pillow, pressed too hard. Or a few pills, hastily crushed. I guess I just thought that he would hate that. That he had never wanted to go quietly. I know I didn’t.
Macalester seniors write about a wide array of subjects. The Words extends the best of luck to Koada, Brynna, and all students working on their capstones right now, in literature or creative writing. To hear more about Brynna Davis and Koada Heacock’s work, as well as that of other English seniors, capstone presentations will be coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 23 and 24 from 4:45 to 6:30 p.m. in the Old Main fourth floor lounge.