Rising into the Unknown: On Writing the Multicultural Nonfiction Short Stories “Dim” and “Kristján”

Rising into the Unknown is a final assignment and a result of a desire to write a story based on my parents‘ lives, specifically my mother‘s. The task consists of two interconnected short stories of creative nonfiction, “Dim” and “Kristján” (about 10,800 words) and a report on the writing process (about 3,500 words). The first story, “Dim”, is centred around Dim, the firstborn daughter of Thai merchants. Stereotyped gender roles are forced upon her from an early age, and she is forced to discontinue further education and take care of her four younger siblings at home. Dim is not satisfied with her role, but she values Thai cultural norms and does not rebel against her parents until her father sabotages the family by bringing a minor wife into the household. When Dim’s parents expect her also to take care of her half-siblings, she has had enough. She runs away with Phi Wan, and they get married. Fifteen years pass by, and Dim’s life has not improved much since she was a young girl. She has four children, and is the breadwinner while her husband cares more for his roosters than his family. When she finds him cheating on her with another woman, she has had enough. The second chapter, “Kristján”, is centred around Kristján, an Icelandic man who is on an airplane on his way to Bangkok for the second time to bring Mutjalin home, whom he met on the first visit to his sister in Bangkok with his father approximately nine months before. On the airplane, Kristján reflects on his failed attempts when it comes to love and is hopeful about his potential relationship with Mutjalin. However, an Icelandic man sitting next to him on the airplane makes him doubt his decision. The woman Kristján meets in “Kristján” is Dim, the main character in “Dim”, but Mutjalin is her real name. The stories are interconnected and my plans are to make “Dim” and “Kristján” into two individual but interconnected short stories of a future novel