English Language and Literature ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 4-11-2017
Abstract
Big Burr, Kansas, is the most homophobic town in the USA. As Under the Rainbow opens, a task force arrives to try to change that. A clash of cultures follows, forcing the characters to see themselves and their world in new ways.
Each chapter is written from a different character’s point of view—some from the town, some from the task force. As the book progresses, characters reappear and intersect in ways that illuminate more about them. For example, one story is about a task force member whose cat is kidnapped by their neighbor. A later story explores a deep friendship between the aforementioned task force member and an elderly Big Burr woman living in a nursing home. Under the Rainbow runs the gamut from gravity to levity, from desperation to hope, showing the universality of each person’s experience.
Degree Name
MFA Creative Writing
Level of Degree
Masters
Department Name
English
First Committee Member (Chair)
Daniel Mueller
Second Committee Member
Sharon Oard Warner
Third Committee Member
Marisa Clark
Fourth Committee Member
Emily Rapp Black
Fifth Committee Member
Lori Ostlund
Language
English
Keywords
Literary fiction, LGBTQ, Kansas
Document Type
Dissertation
Recommended Citation
Laskey, Celia. "Under the Rainbow." (2017). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/engl_etds/167
