On Saturday, April 5th, poet Jamaal May journalist Jennifer Percy and fiction writer Rachel Kushner showcased showcased their new work to a large and appreciative audience at the Mill.

Jamaal May began the even with spontaneous readings from his collection of poems, Hum. “I didn’t plan what I was going to say,” he said, laughed,  and took of his glasses. “Now since I can’t see,  that makes this easy – I’ll just do the ones I know.” Jamaal delivered three poems from memory with a rhythm that resounded through the crowded room.

Jennifer Percy followed Jamaal’s readings with a few from her own book, Demon Camp, about a soldier dealing with PTSD who opens a “demon camp” in Georgia, where he attempts to exorcise the demons (his own term for PTSD) from the bodies of his fellow soldiers. Jennifer’s novel is based on her real conversations with Caleb Daniels, the protagonist of the story.

Rachel Kushner ascended the stage last. Earlier in the day, she stopped by Prairie Lights to talk with Harry Stecopoulos, editor of the Iowa Review, about her love of the seventies, the western Blood Meridian, and her most recent novel, The Flamethrowers.

The novel depicts the adventures of Reno, a young artist who goes to New York and works on a film set.  Rachel read a few excerpts from the book that evening at the Mill, including a passage detailing Reno’s first encounter with Nadine and Thurman, a married couple who bickers about Nadine’s old boyfriends and the menus in Mexican McDonalds’.  Rachel showcased a variety of voices to match each character in her reading, including a shy and uncertain voice for Reno, and surprisingly-accurate Southern accents for the boisterous couple.

Remember to catch the final events of Mission Creek Festival today!

The post Mission Creek: Rachel Kushner @ The Mill, 4/5/14 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

February 8^th was the 2014 National South Asian A Capella Competition, otherwise known as Gathe Raho.  A Capella groups compete by singing Hindu-American song mash-ups.  Here are some reasons it was one of the best things that have happened so far this year and why you should go next year:

1. It’s a national competition of the seven BEST groups in the entire country, and University of Iowa hosts it in the Englert each year.  Talk about convenient.  It was just ten bucks and totally worth it.

2. The entire show is a phenomenal clash of Hindu and American culture.  Bollywood songs fused with Beyoncé.  Traditional saris are mixed with snapbacks.  The dancing is a combination of something you might see in a Bollywood film and something you might see in Step Up.  The best Hindi-English mash-ups of the night were an Imagine Dragons fusion, a Muse fusion, and Backstreet Boys fusion.

3. The crowd gets totally into it.  They chant their favorite team’s name.  They scream when the cute beat boxer has a solo, or clap along with the beat.  They form fan clubs.

4. Yes, it does feel a little like you’re watching real life Pitch Perfect.  I mean, they have the pitch-pipe that they blow before each song and everything.

5. Just because it is a cultural event does not mean it’s exclusive.  The teams are made up of students of all different races.  And the Bollywood songs are completely rad, especially with how they weave into songs you already know really well.

6. This may go without saying, but a lot of these people competing have magnificent voices.  Honestly, at one point there was an angel on stage and he was singing Give Me Love by Ed Sherran and I almost died.

7. Get outside your comfort zone.  More than once I remember thinking, “how exactly did I end up watching the National South Asian A Capella Competition again?”  Attending an event like this really put into perspective how much diversity and culture we have here in Iowa City.  In my opinion, if you’re not submersing yourself into something different every now and then, you’re not doing college right.  Try to attend an event like Gathe Raho at least once.

       Carnegie Mellon’s team, Deewane, won the competition and took home the prize of $3,000 while Michigan’s Maize Mirche team took home $1,000 for second.  University of Iowa hosts Gathe Raho every year, so plan on coming for the 2015 competition.  It’s an unforgettable experience.  And if you can’t wait till then, on March 1^st in the IMU will be hosting Nachte Raho, an Indian Dance off contest. I’ll be there with my sari.

The post Why You Should Be Bummed You Missed Gathe Raho This Year appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Andy Stoll visited forty countries in four years.

He’s lived in a Buddhist temple in Korea, a mud-hut in Zambia, and on a cattle ranch in Australia.  He’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, acted in a Bollywood movie, and eaten dinner with a Taiwanese supermodel.

However, Andy’s global experiences were hardly the focus of his lecture on Thursday, November 21st, in Shambaugh Auditorium; they were the endpoint.

Andy instead described several experiences from his high school years and time as an undergraduate at the University of Iowa College of Business in order to illustrate a few pieces of advice for his audience. Among my favorites were the following:

1.To make a change, you have to put yourself out there.

When Andy was in high school, a classmate encouraged him to run for Student Council.  Andy ignored him; the elections were a popularity contest and he couldn’t win.  Later that day while watching television, he was seized by the idea of spoofing a popular Budweiser advertisement into campaign propaganda for Student Council.  On Friday evening, he waited until the school was deserted and then plastered each locker with his new ad.

2. Do what you love and interesting things will happen.

He was vaguely aware of the long stares in his direction as he walked through the hallways Monday morning. People knew his name. Tiffany, the cheerleading captain, knew his name. He had run as a joke with no expectation of winning, and then he found himself on the list of new Student Council members.

3. Fake it ’til you make it.

In college, Andy Stoll became an accidental member of Student Government.  His roommate convinced him to campaign as a way to meet girls. He won without any idea of the duties of a member of Student Government, and then somehow became the vice-president.

4. Be prepared to wake up in Budapest (and embrace the experience).

While living in Germany, Andy and a fellow traveler made arrangements to meet in Paris the following Saturday. On Saturday morning, he barely caught the train to Paris and then discovered he had actually boarded a train to Budapest.  Instead of trying to return to Munich and then find another train to Paris, he remained in Budapest and discovered that it was an interesting, beautiful, and lively city.

Perhaps one of Andy Stoll’s most inspirational pieces of advice, were a pair of reflections on life he opened and closed his lecture with:  First, life is not linear, it is organic.  There is no set path our lives must follow; we don’t have to graduate high school, graduate college, get married, have two and a half children and live in Suburbia.  There are no barriers that confine us to a rigid, linear path – we only assume there are. Second, you cannot win life. There is no set of experiences that make one life better than another; there is no “best way” to live.  There are only several different ways to live. We can choose a linear path, or an organic one.  Realizing we have the choice is the first step to making one.

To find out more about Andy and his story you can go to his website, or check out the video below.

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