Capstone/Thesis Title
Term
Fall 2017
Upload Type
Restricted Access Thesis
Primary Advisor/Thesis Chair
Patricia Weaver Francisco
Secondary Advisor/Outside Reader
Angela Pelster-Wiebe
Degree Name
MFA
Abstract
Godtown is a collection of personal essays by Hillary Walker, on becoming an urban missionary in the neighborhood of Frogtown in St. Paul, Minnesota. The mission of Godtown is to create safe-sober community and events for at-risk young adults. This work challenges us to confront compassion, grace, powerlessness, and what it means to work in community with a community that is not innately your own. How learning to love people, even when you may or may not receive anything in return, is an important part of personal growth and of faith. It is about beginning to see those who are overlooked, whether it be close to home at a community picnic, or in a place as far away as North Korea.
Subgenre
Personal essay, Memoir, Essay, Lyric essay
Recommended Citation
Walker, Hillary, "Godtown" (2017). Creative Writing Programs. 8.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/cwp/8
dc_type
text
dc_publisher
DigitalCommons@Hamline
dc_format
application/pdf
dc_source
Creative Writing Program
Comments
Hillary Walker lives in Minneapolis, yet spends much of her time in St. Paul working at an inner city mission. Her writing topics vary from the struggles of an urban setting to a childhood spent in a farmhouse surrounded by cornfields. During her time at Hamline she also served on the CNF editorial board for Water~Stone Review, and mentored undergraduate students as Associate Editor for the Runestone Online Literary Journal. Besides writing, she takes pleasure in a keen Scottish jig or reel, and if you look carefully she can be spotted dancing at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival as a part of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society.