Firoozeh Dumas Comes to Campus

Okay, so if you remember back to my summer posts, I had a post about Firoozeh Dumas -- she is and was the first speaker in the Marquis Series this year.  I got the opportunity to talk to her several times while she was on campus and her being here was definitely a great way to start off the week!  (Picture from Firoozeh's website.) 


Monday:

She came to campus and spoke to the freshman in the morning.  Her presentation to them was on the history of Iran which she tied into Persepolis (the first-year common book).  I met her for the first time shortly after she spoke to the first-years.  Professor Eichhorn, my FYS professor from last year, called me and informed me Kayla, my Writing Fellow from last year, and some first-years were talking Firoozeh to the PUB for lunch and I should join them.  I did and we had a grand old time.  This only pumped me up for her presentation (the formal Marquis Series' presentation) I was going to later that night.  

Her presentation was fantastic that night.  Firoozeh is very funny and this speech was more about how she ended up publishing two books: Funny in Farsi and Laughing Without an Accent.  (Side note: She's currently working on a third tween fiction book!)  Both books are memoirs about her life adventures.  Funny in Farsi deals with her and her family moving to America from Iran and the various things they run into, such as the language barrier.  This book is also filled with anecdotes about her family members.  The message I really got out of her speech was to never give up.  She started writing her stories down when she was in her 30s and it took many years and a few rejections before she found a literary agent who wanted to help her publish her books.  As someone who hopes to be published someday, that was inspiring and encouraging to hear.  

I of course bought her book after her presentation and had her sign it for me.  We briefly discussed my name and the abundance of "l"s.  

Tuesday:

I woke up early, as usual, and went to Topics in Composition (the Writing Center development/staff training class) which I'm not actually enrolled in this semester but Firoozeh was going to be there so I wasn't going to miss it.  This was an open question and answer session where we hit on a lot of different topics.  Firoozeh was extremely personable and friendly; we learned a lot about her and I'm sure she learned a lot about us.  I think my favorite moment during this session was when Firoozeh was talking about her love of libraries (I'm sure some of my readers are saying, "Of course Hailley loves this section."  You know me too well).  She was telling us about this one book she read about a girl who dives with horses (part of a circus like show) and then the girl became blind but she still continued this stunt.  This true story takes place during the Great Depression.  As Firoozeh was telling us this, I remembered I had seen the movie version of this story which is called Wild Hearts Can't be Broken.  I raised my hand and said, "You know that's a movie, right?"  Firoozeh didn't know a movie (made in 1991) existed and was quite excited to see it.

 I went to class, worked in Admissions, and then went to the Writing Center to have tea with Firoozeh.  There were about 10 girls, Dr. Bob, and Firoozeh.  This time we went around, introduced ourselves and talked about our life dreams and goals.  It was a casual yet exciting conversation.  We laughed a lot and shared a lot of stories.  It was decided that I'm the unofficial mayor of Coe because apparently I know a lot of things on campus.  Which is good because then I can let you know on this blog and keep my friends on campus in the loop.  An hour went by and unfortunately, tea was over and Nicki (freshman Writing Center consultant and also my 6th floor neighbor) had to take Firoozeh back to her hotel.  We said our goodbyes (I even got a hug!). 

In my opinion, Firoozeh is so inspirational.  As a writer and as a person, I felt rejuvenated Tuesday afternoon as I walked back to Murray; I was ready for anything (which to me last night meant a lot of reading for my classes).  I think my favorite part of the whole experience was just getting to know her in a short span of 24 hours.  She called me by name Tuesday morning and gave me a hug when she was leaving.  She was just so great and personable, I’ve come to admire her a lot. 

      

   

Marquis Series Preview Part I

What is the Marquis Series?  Well it's where Coe brings in some amazing groups for Coe students and members of the Cedar Rapids community to see.  You may remember me talking about Frank Warren, which was part of the Marquis Series of 2010-2011.  They've published the line-up for this year, so I'll be featuring each group this week.

* All information in italics is taken from Coe's website and the Coe's News Page.

"The Coe College Marquis Series has a long tradition of bringing high quality entertainment to the Cedar Rapids community.  The 2011-2012 Coe College Marquis Series features events representing the best in diverse talent, ranging from humorous speaker and author Frioozeh Dumas and the stimulating music-theater work Spectral Sciabin to Tonic Sol-fa, one of the nation’s top vocal groups, Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors,” and the critically acclaimed Brentano String Quartet.

Marquis Series patrons can purchase individual tickets and reserve seats for $15 for the general public, $10 for students and seniors.  For ticket information, call the Coe College Box Office at 319-399-8600, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (summer hours).

The Coe College Lecture and Performance Series is funded in part by a gift from the estate of Sarah Marquis in honor of her father, Dr. John A. Marquis, who was president of Coe College from 1909-1920.  The purpose of the series is to bring entertainment and educational experiences to the Coe campus for the benefit of the entire community."

 The first speaker: Firoozeh Dumas - Monday, Sept. 12, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in Sinclair Auditorium 

"Firoozeh Dumas is the author of “Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America” and “Laughing Without an Accent.”  A native of Iran, Dumas grew up listening to her father, a former Fulbright Scholar, recount the many colorful stories of his life in both Iran and America.  She moved to southern California with her family in the 1970s, and later attended University of California - Berkeley.  In 2001, with no prior writing experience, Dumas decided to write her stories as a gift for her two children.  “Funny in Farsi” was a bestseller and a finalist for the PEN/USA Award, the Audie Award and the prestigious Thurber Prize for American Humor.  For the past seven years, Dumas has traveled the country reminding us that our commonalities far outweigh our differences, and does so with humor. She has spoken at conferences, schools, churches, Jewish Temples and Islamic centers.  This event is co-sponsored by the First-Year Experience and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs."

This book goes well with Persepolis.  Enjoy this video clip of Firoozeh Dumas.  Courtesy of YouTube.