Universal Cultures

This piece was created by interviewing a student of social work and through the interview I have created a piece of fiction inspired by their answers.  I. Relationship I never wanted a relationship in the first place, I’m young, I’m studying, I’m not really looking for someone. But then he came along, the man of my dreams … at least that’s the crap they tell you and what you should be looking for. I thought he was perfect, you know? As perfect as one could be. Dark hair, tanned and dark eyes, average height so he wasn’t the conventional ‘dark, tall and handsome’ but he was good enough for me! He made me happy, he bought me flowers and treated me with respect like the way I deserved.  Of course, things fuck up, and things always fuck up. He left me with nothing but a post-it note. This is why I never wanted to date, this is why I never wanted to be with another man. Woman who lies with another man, that is an abomination. Though who knows if that’ll change. Who knows i...

Think of a character from your own cultural background. Figure out their basic characteristics: age, gender, education, marital status, social values. Write a creative piece (fiction/poem) in their voice. How do they sound? How does their 'background’ manifest in their voice?  I set out a little descriptor for this character for myself as well as what it had above.  Name: Meliton Tailor Age: 20 Gender: male Education: current University student (science)  Marital status: single Social values: socially liberal (women have rights, LGBTQ+ people have rights, immigrants have rights, etc.) Economically conservative (wants there to be lower taxes, no big government spending, etc.) University When they said that they were going to go to University, so many people had an opinion “Why are you just now enrolling into University?”  “You won't be with people your age” “You'll be stuck in school your whole life!”  These are people that did...

In collaboration with Carynn Lai, I created a piece of fiction from interviewing her and gaining inspiration from her answers.  Word count: 779 “Why are you a dolphin trainer if you want to be a chef?” Delphinus, my friend, asks me. I finish pulling all the fish into the barrel for the dolphins to eat. I shrug my shoulders not really knowing how else to answer that. He rolls his eyes and moves off of the blue plastic chair we have out back. He walks up to me and puts his arm around my shoulder. “This place doesn’t offer anything you want, you need to go out there and grab it by the balls!” he says. I look at him with a roll of my eyes. “If I wanted to be a chef, you think I’d stay here this long?” I ask him. “Oh come on Maeen, you know as much as I do how much you want to be a chef. Why are you here in this place of all places, if you want to be a chef?” He asks. “Because Delph,” I begin my onslaught onto my friend, “I need money. Being a dolphin trainer ranks in that mo...