by Alyssa Nehring–Thursday Night, Mohana Rajakumar kicked off her Dimmitt Fellowship at an author reading from her short story collection, Coloured and Other Stories, followed by a conversation with Steve Coyne.
Rajakumar chose to share the first short story she ever wrote, Weeds. The story is about an immigrant family struggling to grasp the unknowns of living in America, like the new concept of lawn care. Rajakumar shared that she wrote this stories as part of a workshop she took during graduate school. She mentioned that she wrote the stories out of frustration. The other students were always writing about characters she didn’t relate to. She wrote Weeds and the rest of Coloured and Other Stories to shock the other members of her creative written class.
During questions and answers, Rajakumar mentioned how Weeds was about the changes immigrants go through when adjusting to a new culture and the struggles of doing so. She dove into the different family styles, work ethic styles, and other differences between the United States and South Asia.
After hearing Weeds and some explanation of the story, the audience was curious about her writing process. Rajakumar said she gets a lot of her inspiration from her home. She explained, “We carry our homes with us. We take pieces and build it to be home.” Rajkumar often draws her stories from her own experiences; however, some of her stories are based on Qataries cultural lifestyle. To ensure accuracy, Rajakumar observes and relies on her friends to help with the uncleared details.
Emily Knapp found the event to be unexpectedly eye-opening. “I had read some of her memoirs in her book I’m reading for my creative nonfiction writing class, but I felt like the interview went more in-depth in the similarities and differences between America and Qatar,” mentioned Knapp. “I’m interested in seeing her plays on Sunday as well as her other events.”
Rajakumar’s book, Coloured and Other Stories, was adopted as the first common read this fall in preparation for Rajakumar’s fellowship. The goal of a common read is to act as a platform to for a campus-wide conversation about a text.
Rajakumar’s Dimmitt Fellowship will continue until Fri. March 23. During her fellowship, Rajakumar will be hosting two more public events. On Sun. March 18. at 2 pm “Diversity: An Afternoon or New 10-Minute Plays by Mohana Rajakumar” presented by Morningside Theater students will take place in Klinger-Neal Theater. A Q & A with Rajakumar and the student directors will immediately follow the performance.
The final public event is a lecture on “Making Rivers in the Desert: What Americans Can Learn Living Abroad”. This event will focus on Rajakumar’s personal experiences living and working in the Middle East and her belief in the value of such experiences as a means of understanding ourselves and the world around us better. This event will be held in UPS Auditorium on Mar. 20 at 7 pm.
All of Rajakumar’s main events are free and open to the public. If you are interested in learning more about Rajakumar’s visit, please contact Dr. Christina Triezenberg, Assistant Professor of English, via email at triezenbergc@morningside.edu. Rajakumar’s fellowship is partially funded by a grant from Humanities Iowa.
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