TY - JOUR TI - The state of Jefferson DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T31838N4 PY - 2016 AB - The State of Jefferson is the story of Anita, Nina, and Chris, a single-mother, two-kid family that is formed and transformed by a trio of fires. Trying to settle her transient instincts and create stability for her children, Anita buys a home in deep northern California, a supposedly “cosmic” region that turns out to be primarily populated by Bud drinkin', gun-totin' good ol’ boys. A region so remote that its residents tried to secede from the U.S in the 1940s—if successful, the State of Jefferson would have been the 49th State. Amidst the evergreens, the family walks a line between mysticism and madness, and after a dramatic fiery finale, leaves 20-something Nina wondering how much her mother’s spiritual language and practices had been covering up. The State of Jefferson asks us to consider in what ways transcendence might be just another word for annihilation. KW - Creative Writing LA - eng ER -