Outside Event 2

To: Wendy Sumner-Winter
From: April Bomprezzi (abomprezzi1010@gmail.com)
Date: March 10, 2010
Outside Event 2: Richard Bausch and Wyatt Prunty

Thursday, March 4th, I attended a reading at Burkes Bookstore. When we got to Burkes, the place was packed. Standing room only and people still flooded in! Richard Bausch was the main reader and he read from his book “Something Is Out There.” Before he read, his daughter played some songs on the guitar. I didn't know any of the songs she sang, and she was hard to understand at times. Many people were in awe of her performance as they sat and stared. Once she was finished, everyone clapped, and Richard Bausch began. He recognized his colleagues and the people who helped put everything together. He was a very laid back guy. He made a joke that 'only he could make a church sermon sound dirty'. Everyone laughed and then he began to read.


The story was titled “Immigration.” It was about a couple named the O'Keefes, Rita and Michael. Michael was an Irish man and Rita was his American wife. They were trying to file for permanent residency in the U.S. since his Visa had expired. The night before their appointment at the I.N.S. Office off Summer Ave, Rita is trying to think of all the things they need and she keeps feeling like they may forget something. Michael tells her to calm down and they'll worry about it in the morning. When Richard Bausch reads Michael's lines, he gives it an Irish accent. It really made the story that much better when he did that. It made you feel like you were in the story. The morning comes around and they wake up fifteen minutes before their appointment, and if they are late, their papers will be void and they will have to go through the whole process again. They argue the whole way to the INS building. Throughout the arguments as Richard reads, you can feel the heat between the two. You can imagine the argument. Everyone listens closely and smiles. They finally make it to the INS building and arrive just seconds before their names are called. They go through the appointment with the inspector prying at every aspect in their lives. Rita gets upset when the woman asks “Do you have any kids?” Michael explains that they were almost in a bad wreck on the way there and that she was pretty shaken up by it. The woman leaves the room and gives the O'Keefes time alone. Michael helped Rita get to feeling better. They would become permanent residents after all. Throughout the story, Richard Bausch gives each character emotion. He does each characters accents. You are able to imagine how the scene is. He describes it perfectly.

After Richard Bausch, Wyatt Prunty reads some of his poems. They were short, but long enough to understand the scene. By the time they were done reading, my legs were exhausted. We leave and many stay to get their books signed. We walk out to the car where we were blocked in. Yippee. We went in Burkes and asked if the Silver Volvo could come move their car, but no one spoke up. Finally, thirty minutes later, an older lady comes out of Burkes and moves her car. Frustrated? Yes. Other than that, I enjoyed the readings. =]