Date of Award
2024
First Advisor
Brendan Mathews
Second Advisor
Sarah Snyder
Abstract
Instance is a young woman raised on a space station, fresh out of university with a degree in ecology. After surviving a system-wide pandemic in her childhood, she struggles with brain fog and other persistent symptoms, managed by her high-tech visor and array of medication. Her long-term mentor and friend, Valency, recommends her to her very first ecological survey, where she gathers data on alien newts by testing them for a dangerous pathogen. However, her supervisor seems to think she’s in over her head—and worse, Instance starts to worry he might be right. Natural Gravity is a science fiction novella concerned with exploring the themes of Long Covid, coming of age, and self-confidence. It represents a step of the writing process rather than a finished piece. It is accompanied by process notes detailing the work that went into this draft, the work that I hope to complete in the future, and various other particulars of my creative writing process.
Recommended Citation
Raper, Quinn, "Natural Gravity: A Novella" (2024). Senior Theses. 1698.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/sr-theses/1698
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