Author: Tiffany Jablonowski

In these quick chats,  graduating Applied Writing & English (AWE) seniors share what ignited their love of words, how the Applied Writing & English programs shaped them, and where they’re headed next. Dive in and celebrate their journeys!

Rebecca Stewart (pictured right presenting at the 2024 UWGB Academic Excellence Symposium) grew up finding magic, courage, and hope in books when real life felt overwhelming. When it came time to choose a major, it was clear that storytelling, and bringing those stories to others, would be at the center of her path. While she originally entered UW–Green Bay with the goal of becoming a middle or high school English teacher, completing an Education minor and earning licensure to teach ages 11–21 in Wisconsin, her experiences expanded her vision. Now, she aspires to teach at the university level as a teacher-scholar — someone committed both to producing and publishing research and to continuously evolving their teaching practices. Her ultimate goal is to connect people to narratives that offer escape, understanding, and empowerment through both her scholarship and her teaching.

Mentorship played a huge role in Rebecca’s journey. Professors like Dr. Pilmaier and Dr. Nesvet pushed her beyond her insecurities, encouraging her to trust her abilities and pursue opportunities she once thought impossible. Publishing her paper Maid Made Devotee: The Maid-Mistress Trope in Gothic Literature in The Journal of Undergraduate Research in Humanities and presenting at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) were milestones that not only built her confidence but also deepened her love of scholarly work. Experiences like diving into Victorian vampire literature and exploring queer theory helped her find her academic home in nineteenth-century British literature and Gothic studies.

Looking ahead, Rebecca is both thrilled and nervous to begin her English PhD at Loyola University, where she’ll specialize in Nineteenth-Century Studies with a focus on Gothic literature and queer theory. Her advice to new students? “You can do really good work and rest, too.” After facing health challenges brought on by overwork, she’s passionate about reminding others that caring for yourself is essential to success. As she prepares for the next chapter, she knows fear will be part of the process — but, as she says, she’ll just do it scared.

Professor Ann Mattis recently published Dirty Work: Domestic Service in Progressive-Era Women’s Fiction, (University of Michigan Press, 2019). Mattis focused her work on how early 20th-century literature, including female-authored works, portrayed complex relationships between women employers and their household help, bringing light to class, race, and social anxieties. The book examines how domestic workers were portrayed as threats to the nuclear family, and how this played important roles in first-wave feminism and the New Negro movements. Mattis reveals the hidden influence of domestic service in shaping cultural narratives of modern femininity. By showcasing the inequalities, Dirty Work: Domestic Service in Progressive-Era Women’s Fiction urges readers and writers to recognize the inadvertent stereotypes embedded in literature and the detrimental effect that they can have on our society.

While there are certain authors whose work I categorically love, sometimes, even the best of authors writes a sub-par book. So, I don’t have many authors that I wait on tenterhooks for their next release — unless it’s a sequel to a book I really liked. Somewhere Beyond the Sea continues the story began in The House in the Cerulean Sea, which really introduced me to adult, cozy fantasy. You can probably imagine my delight six months ago when it was released.

Former main character, Linus Baker, returns in Somewhere Beyond the Sea. Linus is an exceedingly ordinary man in a world with many different sorts of magical people, all of whom are marginalized and oppressed by the government. Linus has found, and accepted that he has found, his home and his family. But the systemic oppression of magical beings by the government, and Linus’ old employer DICOMY (Department in Control of Magical Youth) still remains and is threatening his new life.

Arthur Parnassus, as both a former orphanage master and a magical being himself, is uniquely situated to help change that system. Having experienced firsthand the abuse allowed in government-sanctioned orphanages for magical children when he was a child, he has dedicated his life to making sure that others have better luck and experiences. He turned the orphanage that had been a prison during his childhood into a home and safe haven for other magical children. However, everything he is working to create flies in the face of the non-magical people in power in the government. In particular, he has upset the heads of DICOMY, all of whom have an abundance of power and see him as less than human. Can Arthur change the world to protect his children, his family, and his home, even with Linus’ support?

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is, to me, the perfect sequel because it took one man’s search for a home and expanded it into another man’s quest to make the world feel like home to all those that inhabit it.

Burn of the Everflame
by Penn Cole

My most anticipated book release is definitely Burn of the Everflame, part of The Kindred’s Curse Saga by Penn Cole. I’ve been super excited for it since reading the rest of the series and can’t wait to continue the story!

Burn of the Everflame is the fourth and final book in the series, which starts with Spark of the Everflame, followed by Glow of the Everflame, and then Heat of the Everflame. The books follow Diem Bellator, a mortal girl living in a land that is ruled by the offspring of the gods, the Descended. The series is your typical fantasy book, featuring magic, dragons, and a painful yet well-worth-it slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance that kept me incredibly hooked. The books are pretty long and have a ton of world-building, so it is a bit difficult to digest and get through it all at times. Heat has almost 900 pages, so I can only imagine what Burn will have if she continues that pattern! I’ve still not emotionally picked myself up from the cliffhanger that Heat left us on

Burn of the Everflame has been delayed a few times unfortunately, and the anticipated release date has moved frequently. I’ve heard that a possible date is sometime in July 2025, but that’s just speculation so far. I have to keep reminding myself to have patience!

Grim and Oro by Alex Aster is generating a lot of buzz ahead of its release, and for good reason. Scheduled for September 2025, the story intertwines elements of fantasy and adventure, exploring themes of friendship, courage, and the struggle between light and darkness. Aster’s world-building is vivid and immersive, drawing readers into a richly crafted universe filled with unique characters and intricate lore. Her writing style is both lyrical and accessible, making it easy to get lost in the narrative. I’ve read the first book in the series (Lightlark, Nightbane, and Skyshade), and Aster’s world-building in it is also so detail-oriented, I can vividly image what I’m reading.The protagonist, Grim, is a relatable character who faces both external challenges and internal conflicts, making his journey challenging and engaging. Oro, on the other hand, adds an intriguing dynamic to the story, and their relationship evolves in unexpected ways, keeping readers on their toes.Overall, Grim and Oro promises to be an exciting addition to the fantasy genre, appealing to both young adult and adult readers. With its captivating plot and well-developed characters, it is definitely a book to keep an eye on when it hits the shelves!

Evil Dead II

Trigger warning; Brief mention of sexual violence.

Evil Dead II (1987) has always been a staple film in my house, to the point where I knew Bruce Campbell before leaving the womb. While I’ve never seen the original — since I was so young
at the time, my father always prefers that I clarify — the rest of this franchise has always been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. This film was the one to get me into horror movies at an early five-years old and will continue to receive a solid five stars on my Letterboxd for the rest of eternity. Even though there are many reasons I can throw at you as to why this is, I’ll settle for only a few and hope it’s enough to persuade or pressure you into watching!

This horror/comedy stars the “groovy” Bruce Campbell who plays Ash Williams. As Ash and his girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler) sneak into a cabin, things quickly go south after finding a tape recorder reciting words from The Book of the Dead. Ash, like any other oblivious horror movie character, plays the tape while browsing the book, releasing the demonic spirits it held. The spirits are quick to possess Linda, ultimately leading to her death at Ash’s hands. The spirits, still hanging around, begin to target Ash, making him go crazier and crazier. But I’m sure finals week has us all feeling just as crazy as my man Ashley J. Williams, so who am I to talk?

The film gets into a perfect blend of comedy and horror after quickly introducing four throwaway characters who help move Ash into more of a hero role when he magically becomes all-knowing. That happens after he listens to a few minutes of the tape, and is briefly possessed, but it all adds to his aura, so we’ll allow it for the plot. It results in scary, yet silly, possession prosthetics and actions from these characters as they meet their demise.

Outside of the plot, though, what makes this such a great film is the VFX done by Tom Sullivan and the camera work directed by Sam Raimi, who also wrote the script alongside Scott Spiegel. The creepy possession and corpse make-up creates a much more terrifying feeling than CGI ever could. Plus, the first-person POV camera movements from a demon’s perspective build the audience’s anxiety as we move at full force after these terrified characters, all of which help give this film and franchise its iconic feel, separating it from others in the horror category when it comes to style. But then again, maybe I’m biased. These guys are also to thank for the well-known chainsaw scene, where we not only witness Ash chop off his own hand but also see the birth of the chainsaw hand, his boomstick creation, and his catchphrase, “Groovy.” It’s beautiful, really; you almost always have to shed a tear.

While I’m sure this film has callbacks to the first Evil Dead (1981), I personally have never seen that one and honestly don’t even recommend watching it due to the sexual violence in it that Raimi regrets including. Luckily, the franchise is set up where you can easily jump into this film and can disregard anything before it. So don’t let the title saying “II” hold you back! It’s worth the watch. Plus, if you enjoy this film, or just Sam Raimi, I highly recommend trying out the horror video game The Quarry, also blessed by the hands of a Raimi brother. It’s the perfect time to add to your watch list as we head into “Summerween” in just a month.

Available on Pluto TV.

Bridgerton

Romance in the early 1800s. Gossip, balls, and hot dukes — what more could you ask for? Getting swept up in the enchanting eras of the 19th century sounds like a great time; you would just have to ignore the infrequent nature of showers, STDs raging through the population, and the lack of indoor plumbing, but that’s really no big deal. Bridgerton is a Netflix original series based on a series of steamy books by Julia Quinn that follows the lives and romances of socialites in Regency-era London and does a splendid job of ignoring all of the aforementioned general yuckiness of the time period. It also ensures that it represents people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds within its cast and by making changes to the book’s story lines, which do not have the same diversity. This is pretty unique for a period piece such as this one and is one of the aspects of the show that make it a favorite of mine. It centers around the Bridgerton family as the children enter the marriage market, and we see their struggles while they look for other members of “the ton” whom they deem fit for marriage.Everyone is going about their lives as normal when one day, a “Lady Whistledown” decides to publish a new gossip paper. These papers are not novel to the people of the ton, but this one is different. Why? It reports the gossip using people’s real names, which no other paper had dared to do before. With this fresh and anonymous reporter on the scene, the Bridgerton family, as all the families of the ton, must find ways to avoid scandal while also trying to find love.

Each season of the show follows a new Bridgerton sibling, with the first season centering around Daphne, the fourth-born sibling and eldest daughter. She is enamored with the Duke of Hastings (hubba hubba), or as he is known less formally, Simon. He does not wish to marry at all, but there is something about her that just draws him in. After their story unfolds, for season two we move on to the oldest Bridgerton, Anthony, and his story of looking for a wife — not because he wants love, but as the head of the family, he feels a responsibility to do so. Season three is all about third-born Collin and his longtime friend Penelope, who, as it turns out, could be more than just friends. The three seasons we have of this show are every cheesy romance fan’s dream. It is nothing but drama, love, and tension. Do be warned: this show does get a little spicy, and by a little, I mean a lot, so watch with caution. I am not claiming that it is the most highbrow and prestigious show, but with the melodramatic story lines, enduring romances, orchestra covers of modern-day songs, and Regé Jean Page, how could you not love it?

Available on Netflix.