Date of Award
Fall 12-13-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Kerry James Evans
Second Advisor
Laura Newbern
Third Advisor
Kerry Neville
Abstract
Abstract
Midlife by Michael James Sevcik is a collection of poetry that explores issues of age, gender, sexuality, identity, desire, family, and loss within a predominantly domestic space while addressing broader social, cultural, and philosophical issues using a phenomenological poetics grounded in everyday experience. The collection is organized into three distinct yet interrelated “movements:” the first movement, “Anchored,” establishes an existential yearning amidst professional and amorous stasis and familial pressures. The second movement, “Liminal,” explores temporality and its relationship to place and memory. The third movement, “Renewal,” incorporates travel, family history, and art, transforming them into critical modes of aesthetic and political inquiry. Drawing from a broad array of critical and literary influences, the introductory essay brings the personal into direct conversation with the theoretical, at times blurring distinctions. Taken together, this collection is a meditation on writing, living, and attempting to construct meaning within a shifting present.
Recommended Citation
Sevcik, Michael, "Midlife" (2025). Poetry MFA Theses. 11.
https://kb.gcsu.edu/poetry/11
Included in
American Literature Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Poetry Commons, Queer Studies Commons