Boiler Room Reading Series Fall 2017
On October 27th the English department put on their Boiler Room Reading Series at the university art gallery. The featured readers were Undergraduate student Tess Tyler, Graduate student Nick Nusbaumer, and faculty member Dr. Shazia Rahman. Each reader presented a piece or pieces of their personal work to share with the audience. The atmosphere of the Boiler Room reading was very calm, inspiring, and accepting.
Undergraduate student Tess Tyler began the Boiler Room readings with her Multi Genre Project on The Phantom of the Opera: Uncovering the Secrets behind Gaston Leroux’s Masterpiece. Tyler read pieces from her multi genre project such as a journal entry that was from Gaston Leroux, a drawing of Christine and the Phantom, and an obituary for “Pierre Emile”; a fictional man since the identity of the man killed from the chandelier is unknown. Tyler explained her love for The Phantom of the Opera, the importance for educational value using a Multi genre project, and the passion she has for English.
Graduate student Nick Nusbaumer read two of his poems. His poems I’d much like to remain and People power with two sections “harvest,” “bag,” and “feast. These were poems that he wrote to help him explore his Filipino heritage. Nusbaumer’s poems were both powerful and moving as one could feel the weight of his pride in each poem. Nusbaumer spoke of his Filipino heritage getting lost along the way and how the passing of his Lola (grandmother) has helped inspire him to get back into his heritage.
Faculty member Dr. Shazia Rahman read her piece More to Me, which was a reflection of her identity, her life growing up embedded in multiple cultures, and her passion for acceptance of her own beliefs. Dr. Rahman spoke with passion as she read and explained deep parts of her identity in her piece. A few things we learned from Dr. Rahman’s piece is that she loves to travel and is proud of who she knows she is. She also spoke about the Mediterranean always feeling very close to her whenever she revisits.
