Sunscreen

Name: Zoe Covey
Major: English
Advisors: Dr. Christopher Kang and Dr. Thomas Prendergast
Sunscreen is a 68-page long novella following different members of a family as they each navigate their own lives. It spans about 90 years and mainly focuses on the life of Gloria Fischer, a woman who is born in Pittsburgh in the 1930s to a family of German immigrants. It traces her from baptism to becoming a grandmother, and along the way the story diverts to other characters. My aim for this project was to think about the different ways that we all somehow learn the same core lessons at one point or another in our lives. I also wanted to write detailed portraits of characters, and push that idea to novel-length, rather than limiting it to a few standalone vignettes. I was excited to be able to push myself to write such a long piece, and the process taught me that though my chapters naturally trend on the shorter side, they can still make up a long-form work. Ultimately, writing a novella was a very rewarding experience, and has been less scary than it has been wonderful.

Zoe will be online to field comments on April 16:
8-10am EDT (PST: 1-3pm, Africa/Europe: late evening)