Pacific Index

Senior creative writing major, Grace Shoemaker, reflects on her time at Pacific and her upcoming book of poetry 

“I am working on a collection of poetry that reflects the growth of who I am. Through the lens of fantasy tropes… Specifically following the hero’s journey,” remarks Grace Shoemaker, a senior creative-writing major, talking on her upcoming capstone project. For her final project, she will be embarking on not just a reflection on her time here at Pacific University, but also putting her writing skills to the test.

“I’m hand-making a book. I’m making all of the paper, I’m hand-binding it. And I’m going to be handwriting everything in it,” Shoemaker explains. 

As for the paper, she will be using her assignments, tests, and syllabi from her freshman year, to deepen the personal symbolism of her time at university. Though she is still hammering out the more minute details of her project, Shoemaker explains that, “I’m working with, like, magic, I’m going to have a mentor figure. I have a dragon poem [also].” Using fantasy as a mode for metaphors, she explores her growth as a young adult.

“Typically what they do is they talk about their process of writing. from the beginning, all the way through. My plan is to kind of follow that, and then I also really want to have the physical book there that can be passed around,” she notes for her final presentation of her capstone. 

Planning on doing around 15 poems total, she keeps an open mind for the length of her book. While Shoemaker doesn’t have a direct aesthetic plan for her final product, she says, “I have been collecting stamps actually to use. I’m really hoping to go for, like, kind of the rough edged leather bound.”

Even though she plans on doing a fully poem-based book, this is not her preferred form of writing. “My main form of writing is, like, longer fiction pieces. I wanted to challenge myself and work with poetry and see how I can make a story out of poetry,” mentions Shoemaker. With most of her expertise coming from long-form writing, she plans on taking that love for fantastical storytelling and transforming it into poetry. 

“I really want to find a publishing company and work as an editor,” she responds when prompted with what her post-college plans are. “There’s a lot in the Portland-area, so hopefully I get a job with them.”