The English royal wedding was an international event that attracted millions of viewers, but it also led to a UNM graduate student’s first international publication.
Von Jones, a student of the creative writing program, was published in an international writers anthology about the royal wedding called “Your Royal Wedding.”
His story, entitled “Sic Transit Gloria Mundi,” or, translated from Latin, “Thus passes the glory of the world,” concludes the anthology. Jones’ story, unlike other interpretations in the anthology, operates as a platform for readers to contemplate more important issues, he said.
“We can do a lot of things that aren’t big, magnanimous gestures,” Jones said. “We have to have a consciousness toward this.”
He said the story was born during a writing exercise for Daniel Mueller’s creative fiction workshop.
The story revolves around a middle-class American couple as they humbly offer a brand new automobile to the soon-to-be-wed royal couple.
The car was to be a wedding present for their daughter and her fiancé — who were to be married on the same day as the royal couple — just before they died in an airline accident. The parents are not prepared for the media frenzy that follows the arrival of their gift in London.
The story draws attention to how easy it is for people to obsess over the lives of celebrities and dismiss real problems that the world is facing, Jones said.
But Jones didn’t start in fiction. He has written for publications and newspapers for the last 35 years.
“Journalism is a wonderful way to give you the discipline and the legs you need to write,” he said.
Copies of the anthology can be purchased through the editor and publisher at ebay.co.uk.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
