CONNOR RODENBECK
WRITING PORTFOLIO
PROSE
SOAK
This hybrid piece includes sections of prose and poetry. It was written in an Intermediate Fiction workshop. This story explores the main character, Pale Boy, and his two different experiences with love. It is a queer narrative that pushes on the boundaries of literary form. Soak has been adapted into a theatrical production at the University of Denver, which can be viewed here.
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Aggressors
This short story was also written in an Intermediate Fiction workshop. It is a lyrical showcase that again highlights intimacy between two queer male characters. The assignment was to write a vignette that was matter-of-fact and realistic. Then, we were to expand on this vignette, adding images and details to increase the strangeness of the text. This short piece was published by Furrow Magazine.
Cool water
This is another hybrid piece that shifts from prose to poetry. Originally a prose poem, I substantially revised it for the Revision Assignment during the Writing Captstone. As a work of autofiction, it explores my own experience coming out to my father, my relationship to masculinity, and how my relationship to my father has changed as I've settled into my queerness.
Ripe & Rot
This short story was written in an Advanced Fiction workshop under the guidance of Dr. Joanna Howard. The assignment was to play with experimental fiction and then workshop it with my peers. This story uses a second-person point of view, which was a new technique that I think is effective in making the reader feel complicit in the main character's morally questionable actions.