Shawkirk

This Masters Thesis contains both the original short-story cycle Shawkirk and a critical analysis of the work. Shawkirk encompasses eight short stories linked by characters and setting, with a different narrator for each story. The focus is mainly on the disaffected youth in the titular suburb, although the first and last stories deviate from this formula, in setting and character respectively. The cycle covers roughly half a year - beginning with a summer scout camp and ending around the Christmas period. Throughout the year, several plotlines develop - most importantly the various attempts by the younger characters to escape Shawkirk's poisonous influence.In the critical analysis I examine several short story collections by established authors, and how their work influenced the structure and style of my own collection. With focus on developing setting, I refer back to Shawkirk and how it compares with other short-story cycles, while discussing how multiple narrators can influence this development.This Masters Thesis contains both the original short-story cycle Shawkirk and a critical analysis of the work. Shawkirk encompasses eight short stories linked by characters and setting, with a different narrator for each story. The focus is mainly on the disaffected youth in the titular suburb, although the first and last stories deviate from this formula, in setting and character respectively. The cycle covers roughly half a year - beginning with a summer scout camp and ending around the Christmas period. Throughout the year, several plotlines develop - most importantly the various attempts by the younger characters to escape Shawkirk's poisonous influence.In the critical analysis I examine several short story collections by established authors, and how their work influenced the structure and style of my own collection. With focus on developing setting, I refer back to Shawkirk and how it compares with other short-story cycles, while discussing how multiple narrators can influence this development