Steven Christopher McKnight
Bio
Disillusioned twenty-something, future ghost of a drowned hobo, cryptid prowling abandoned operahouses, theatre scholar, prosewright, playwright, aiming to never work again.
Venmo me @MickTheKnight
Stories (94)
Filter by community
A Hate Letter to Personal Statements. Top Story - November 2025.
I find myself once again writing personal statements for grad school applications. Why I would do such a thing to myself again after so many years of not doing that, I have no clue. Perhaps I have a sadistic streak, an echo of my Catholic upbringing which manifests the typical emotional self-flagellation into a desire to apply to and inevitably get rejected from grad school. I could put applications in all day, don’t get me wrong. I love going over checklists and reaching out to old professors asking them sweetly if they would be so kind as to say nice things about me on the official record for Miscellaneous University and their Obscure College of the Performing Arts. But good God, dude, why do I have to write a damn personal statement for each and every one of these programs?
By Steven Christopher McKnight2 months ago in Humans
I Ghosted My Dream University. Top Story - June 2025.
I still live in the Czech Republic. Something about the affordable cost of living, short work week, sustainable public transportation, and abundance of people who like me here has driven me to stay. In fact, I have signed on for a second year as an English teacher with the same company, setting this up as potentially the longest I’ve stayed in one place since my undergrad. Yes, I’ve been back to the States a couple of times, because I’m saddled (blessed?) with a family that wants to see me regularly, but doesn’t want to go through the trouble of getting passports. I genuinely enjoy living in Europe, which is why it came as such a surprise when I realized that I don’t want to stay in Europe.
By Steven Christopher McKnight7 months ago in Confessions
How To Flee America
In the fallout from a certain election, I received a number of messages from my American friends. The questions they had varied. “How are you, Steven?” “So what exactly is it that you do now?” Most commonly: “How did you get out of America?” Almost all of the people who asked this question were women or members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Odd. I wonder what could possibly be happening in the United States to prompt such a potential exodus. Well, my esteemed colleagues, I’m always one to be as helpful as I can be, so let me share with you my cheat code for getting out of the United States.
By Steven Christopher McKnightabout a year ago in Lifehack
Ukrainian Theatre - Nationalism and the Nationalist Theatre
Early on in her book Theatre & Nation, Nadine Holdsworth draws from a number of sociologists and theorists to define three key terms: nation, nationalism, and national identity. These are important terms to be distinguished; after all, the purview of this essay is Ukrainian theatre of national identity. Whether or not this can be conflated with Ukrainian nationalist theatre is a matter of connotation. If, as for many, the term nationalism conjures up images of Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, or Trumpist America—all of which have negative connotations—then it may be uncomfortable to ascribe the word nationalist to Ukrainian theatre. After all, if it earned condemnation from the Ukrainian Communist Party, to the point of Kulish’s banishment, arrest, and eventual execution, then it must have been disruptive to some utopian vision that the USSR wanted to achieve.
By Steven Christopher McKnightabout a year ago in History
Ukrainian Theatre of National Identity - Russia's Nationalist Problem
With that said, I want to set the stage for the rest of this thesis by calling to attention what I will refer to as Soviet Russia’s “Nationalist Problem.” In a multinational empire, assembled after years of war, civil war, and rebellion, the main concern of the Soviet Union was to make the mechanism of a socialist nation function. Political policies were tried and tested in the early years of the USSR. After the nation had stabilized, for example, a policy of Ukrainization was implemented in the Ukrainian lands, offering the Ukrainian people educational and cultural autonomy. This policy was reversed under Stalin, who instead persecuted Ukrainians who explored ideas related to the nation and criticism of the USSR. Culture and politics were inextricably intertwined; in Russia, theate and theatrical spectacles were explored as strategies to propagandize the public into a sense of Soviet pride. Because the arts were so linked to the political mechanism at the time, an artist operating outside or against that political mechanism was subject to excommunication, imprisonment, and/or death. One political party—the Communist Party—dominated, and lack of membership to it was a fast track to pariah status.
By Steven Christopher McKnightabout a year ago in History
Ukrainian Theatre of National Identity - Chapter Breakdown
Chapter Breakdown & Goals In the first chapter, I set up the key facets of nationalism and nation-building in Ukraine, and bring to light the key figures in the Ukrainian literary pantheon which guided the development of Ukrainian culture for the century following their deaths. To define nationalism and its associated terms in specific relation to the drama, I bring in scholars such as Nadine Holdsworth and Kiki Gounaridou, who introduce terms such as “nation under duress,” “state of the nation play,” “cosmopolitanism,” and “national iconography.” These terms are to be kept in mind for future sections while exploring and discussing specific works in the Ukrainian canon. Afterwards, I dive into the history of early Ukraine under control of the Russian Empire, explore the lives of Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko, and Lesia Ukrainka, and discuss their contributions to the Ukrainian literary canon.
By Steven Christopher McKnightabout a year ago in History
Ukrainian Theatre of National Identity - Intro
The following is the introduction to my Master's Thesis, The Construction of National Identity through Theatre in Ukraine in the 1920s and 2020s. In the coming days, I will be posting the full thesis, chapter by chapter. I struggled deciding whether or not to post this here, but I decided ultimately that if it were submitted to academic journals, it would be behind a paywall. This information is important to me, and I would like it to be shared as freely as possible. If you would like the full PDF, click here.
By Steven Christopher McKnightabout a year ago in History
Blue Skies and Greener Pastures
Okay, so, here’s the thing. I am a verbose young man with many words in my heart and nothing but my own exhaustion to stop me from transcribing those words from my heart into a hastily-opened Google Doc. I am not as exhausted now, so let’s talk about microblogging platforms such as Twitter and Threads and the Tinder biography section. I hate them. Why must I condense the vastness of my thoughts and observations into trite, bite-sized posts that do not exemplify the full complexity of what is going on in the slab of electric meat that is my brain? It’s stupid. It’s so stupid. Why can’t the average reader just gain the attention span to be able to read more than 200-300 characters in one sitting? (Myself included. This cannot be the same brain that would read a novel a day in middle school.)
By Steven Christopher McKnightabout a year ago in Journal
Alistair Discovers a Minor Structural Issue. Top Story - November 2024. Content Warning.
Act 1 Valentine’s Day We have reached the snowless part of winter in the humble American town of Kingsley, when a curtain of overcast is drawn over the sky, and the air hurts with deep sadness. The elementary school is done up in pink, pretty hearts in the windows, made by kids too young to have no idea what love is. People don’t go outside if they can help it. You can see a housewife or two carrying groceries back home from the store, or a runner from the local college taking a less-popular route through the downtown on the break between her classes. Otherwise, it’s empty. Nearly everyone’s inside, completing whatever tasks they’ve ascribed their lives to.
By Steven Christopher McKnightabout a year ago in Fiction
The Rover. Content Warning.
“Lewis. Lewis.” The sound cuts out. The metal around you smolders as you dig through the wreckage for Clarke. You don’t remember much. Panicked voices over the comm. Your seat ejecting. Clarke’s seat not. You want to scream his name, but you can’t, and it’s not like he could hear you, anyway. Finally, among some of the burning chrome, you see his legs poking out, skin torn but not bleeding, copper wire meshed with muscle.
By Steven Christopher McKnightabout a year ago in Fiction
