MVSU Alumnus Exodus Brownlow who has just published a nonfiction essay, “Love & Nappiness: On Hair, Race & Self-Worth,” in Luna Luna Magazine, a hybrid lifestyle, dreamer's diary and arts journal. Her essay, well-written with a humorous tone, can be read at http://www.lunalunamagazine.com/blog/nappiness-love-self-worth-race.

Exodus graduated from MVSU in 2014 with a BA degree in English with concentration in creative writing. Writing to her former teachers at Valley, Exodus said she was enjoying her time as graduate student at Mississippi University for Women. She wanted to take this opportunity to thank her teachers in the English who have helped her to become the writer that she is today.

Dr. John Zheng, who was Exodus’ supervisor for her creative writing project, said that Exodus is a lover of writing and a player of language. “She is a talent who has the creative mind to see things concretely and the fantastic imagination to design the plots for her stories.”

When she studied creative writing at Valley, Dr. Zheng challenged her to write short-short stories constantly to make them a series of short-shorts that could be a fiction in the form of short-shorts. He remembers he met with Exodus almost every Monday afternoon to discuss about her stories, and Exodus completed a collection of short stories, from which four pieces were published in Valley Voices: A Literary Review.

Exodus is now studying in the MFA program at Mississippi University for Women, where she serves as a graduate teaching assistant. The department of English and Foreign Languages feels proud of this graduate and wishes her the best in creative writing and publication.