Creative Writing

In October 2024, Genevieve Guzmán’s ENGL 4800W: Intermediate Fiction Writing class visited our on-campus museum gallery. The group got a tour of the exhibit and a behind-the-scenes look at the bird research collection, then stayed on site to start drafting. Their prompt was to write either a quest story with museum objects or an outdoor survival scenario set in the region. Owls were their favorite subject, but they also wrote about escaping alligators in a flood, greedy pirate captains who succumb to skin-burrowing butterfly larvae, exotic animal marketplaces, rock climbing accidents with animal companions, people-eating Venus fly traps, doom preppers, and species-jumping viruses. The students agreed this “Georgia Short” was their favorite craft exercise of the semester. We’re glad we could provide so much inspiration to these creative minds! With the authors’ permission, here are two of the stories inspired by their visit.