Sarah Minor, doctoral candidate in creative writing
by Kristin Distel
Sarah Minor, Ph.D. candidate in English (nonfiction), recently published an essay, “Foul Chutes,” in Ninth Letter literary magazine. Minor refers to the essay as a “blown up” version of a previously published piece—an essay that examined the history of the laundry chute—which she felt needed revision and “a different life.”
“‘Foul Chutes’ is an essay about trash that comes in many forms, but perhaps especially about the places and people we consider disposable,” Minor explains.
The revised essay, which takes (to-scale) the shape of the Mississippi River, displays Minor’s talent for incorporating visual elements into her narrative work. The essay includes markers that flag the boundaries of states that border the Mississippi River.
“Inside the river shape, two columns run parallel and ask the reader to dart between narrative sections on the left and a stream of researched information on the right,” Minor states.
“Foul Chutes” has been published electronically but is also available via PDF download. In keeping with the size and shape of the scaled Mississippi River format, the printed version is approximately nine feet long.
“In my life as a writer I still find myself enamored with writing in print, but I recognize that this piece is probably most successful when it gets reproduced digitally in a venue built for the continuous downward scroll.”
Minor is the author of The Persistence of The Bonyleg: Annotated (Essay Press, 2016). She is an Assistant Professor of Nonfiction at the Cleveland Institute of Art, curates the visual essay series at Essay Daily, and is the video editor at TriQuarterly Review. Learn more about Minor’s publications via her website, and follow her on Twitter at @sarahceniaminor.
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