Year of Award
2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Degree Name
Creative Writing (Nonfiction)
Department or School/College
Department of English
Committee Chair
Chris Dombrowski
Commitee Members
Chris Dombrowski, Brian Blanchfield, Julia Mazzarella
Keywords
memoir, illness, chronic pain, essays, health
Subject Categories
Arts and Humanities | Creative Writing | Nonfiction
Abstract
Incidental Findings is a memoir-in-essays organized by the narrator's movement through the medical system. Each essay is an investigation that arises from a diagnosis. Rather than passive acceptance, the narrator unravels the life lived around each label. What surfaces resists categorization. Memories, relationships, and identities complicate the neatness of diagnosis as she confronts what it means to live beyond the label of chronically ill.
Recommended Citation
Kothen-Hill, Katherine Elise, "Incidental Findings: Pain, Care, & Diagnoses" (2026). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12751.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12751
© Copyright 2026 Katherine Elise Kothen-Hill