Artist Spotlight

Every two weeks, Happy Captive will highlight a past contributor, their work, and their current goals and recent accomplishments on our website. As we grow as a literary magazine, we seek to connect with past artists and echo to the creative work that binds our publication together each year. Without these pieces, Happy Captive would be a simple stack of pages lacking emotional and narrative spark.

Current Spotlight

Amanda Brennan

Pieces in Happy Captive: "The Garden" creative nonfiction (Vol. 3); "All of the City and Me at 19" fiction, (Vol. 4); "How to Become (And Stay) A Creative Writing Major" nonfiction.
Q: Rereading your accepted piece, has your opinion on your work changed?
A: Yes. I wish I had kept the title How to Become and Stay an English Major, for one thing. That was the first thing I got published and the editor wanted me to change it, and I didn't know that it would be OK to say no. The other thing is that All of the City is basically a sad love story, and it doesn't make as much sense to me. When I had written it, I was much closer to the version of myself I represented in that story than I am today. That's probably the most disorienting thing about creative nonfiction. Sometimes you'll have a piece where you'll always be able to recognize yourself, and sometimes you'll have a piece where a few months pass and it seems amazing that you were the person who wrote it. 
Q: How do you think you've grown as a writer/artist since being accepted into our magazine?
A: I think I've gained more confidence...but also, I'm less sure about what good writing is. I've read so many different kinds of writing from people, including my friends. I think reading a lot of stuff that's both good and different from my own writing has been really important to me. I think a huge part of growing as a writer is genuinely learning from other writers, even if it isn't in your genre. 
Q: Have you been up to anything lately that you would like to share? 
​A: My sketch group, SWAG, came out with a news segment called Redhawk Reports, and I write on a weekly basis for that.

Past Spotlights

Lauren​ Miles

Pieces in Happy Captive: "A Woman of Few Words" flash fiction; "Come On, Or Quoth the Raven 'Fuck You" poetry; and "What Happened" flash fiction (all Vol. 4, which you can read by clicking on "Volumes")
Q: Rereading your accepted piece, has your opinion on your work changed?
A: I would say that my opinion of my word has not changed, only deepened with time. I'm less nervous about them now, I've accepted them into my heart as accomplishments and not miracles of bullshit or mistakes (or perhaps they are miracles of bullshit -- I find power in reclaiming the messy process of writing them). They are pieces I look back on fondly as I move forward to write anew.
Q: How do you think you've grown as a writer/artist since being accepted into our magazine?
A: As I write this, my creative writing has taken a bit of a back seat to other pursuits. I've begun training to work at the Howe Writing Center and grown as a editor and workshop as a result. I've also been heavily focused on theatre, dramaturgy in particular. And that knowledge of research and the structure of the dramatic arts has given me new perspectives and inspiration for my writing to come. I have plans in the works for a play and a chapbook. I'd say that my confidence has grown most of all -- there are bigger places I want my writing to go and I look forward to the process of getting there.
Q: Have you been up to anything lately that you would like to share? This can be related to art/writing or not.
A: I'm currently working on dramaturgical work for next semester's production of "The Revolutionists" -- a really exciting new play about women during the French revolution by Lauren Gunderson. I'm really excited to be a part of the production. I've also been working on becoming a better cook -- having a home cooked meal just makes everything a little better, ya feel?

Deirdre Sperry

Pieces in Happy Captive: "Spring Rain" prose (Vol. 4)
Q: Rereading your accepted piece, has your opinion on your work changed?
A: Since submitting the piece, I have done extensive rewriting to give the characters more backstory and better connect the aspect of the past to the main character's experience in the present.
Q: How do you think you've grown as a writer/artist since being accepted into our magazine?
A: After submitting my piece, I was so encouraged that I decided to pursue a minor in creative writing. Continuing to write has forced me to take a critical look at what I write and work on specifically utilizing characterization and specific details.

Marin Thurmer

Pieces in Happy Captive: “TELEPAN” fiction (Vol. 4); “Procedure at World Processing Headquarters” prose (Vol. 3)
Q: Rereading your accepted piece, has your opinion on your work changed?
A: I think TELEPAN had several moments that needed editing and so it definitely wasn’t the best version of that story, but the story itself is something that still evolves in the back of my mind. I have dreams of places to describe in my stories, and TELEPAN and Procedures both have their own landscapes and atmospheres that I can live in even though the pieces are in print.
Q: How do you think you've grown as a writer/artist since being accepted into our magazine?
​A: I definitely have a better sense of the process of being published, and what it means to put forth your best work. My style (based on what’s been accepted so far) tends to be post-apocalyptic and dream states, but I’ve also been working on poetry and other short stories in different styles.
Q: Have you been up to anything lately that you would like to share? 
A: Right now I’m focusing on group dynamics in my work and have been writing a lot about the internal versus the performative self. How someone speaks to others versus their thoughts and action. How a person’s actions can be hyperbolized and made symbolic in their minds.

Jessica Gould

Pieces in Happy Captive: “The Structure of the Thing” poetry (Vol. 2)
Q: Rereading your accepted piece, has your opinion on your work changed?
A: I never really knew where this poem 'came from,' even back when I wrote it, so I'm still not sure I know how I feel about it, strange as that is. I think there are parts that are a bit cliche-- it's simply what I imagine it would be like to fight both for and against someone you love simultaneously. But I think it at least says something interesting about how our experiences shape us and how sometimes pain means growth.
Q: How do you think you've grown as a writer/artist since being accepted into our magazine?
A: I've been doing a lot of writing since, so hopefully I've gotten better! Lately I have found a submission site called The Prose that usually has me writing more short-story style than poetry, so I've been focusing more on the creation of character and setting and at least a small thread of a story, which has been a lot of fun to explore. I've also been doing a lot of comedic writing so hopefully I've also gotten better at that (but more on that below).
Q: Have you been up to anything lately that you would like to share? 
​A: After graduating from Miami in 2016, I backpacked Europe for 8 1/2 weeks and then moved out to California to find my place in the film industry (behind the scenes). I'm still looking for my exact fit, getting on sets whenever I can and hopefully filming in New York in a few months, but in the meantime I've kind of accidentally fallen into Stand Up comedy. I never would've pictured myself doing Stand Up in a million years, but I love that it gives me a new way of looking at writing (and at the world, for that matter) as well as allowing me to spread a little joy and laughter to people.