Tim Bascom will perform a Deep Song reading at 7 pm Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Te Paske Art Gallery.
Bascom, the director of creative writing at Waldorf College, will be reading a portion of his newest book, “Running to the Fire,” which was published in April 2015.
According to the University of Iowa Press, ““Running to the Fire” focuses on the turbulent year the Bascom family experienced upon traveling into revolutionary Ethiopia. The teenage Bascom finds a paradoxical exhilaration in living so close to constant danger.”
Bascom hopes to bring up a controversial issue in the effectiveness of missionaries.
“My parents were missionaries and as an adult looking back, I am conflicted by that,” Bascom said. “They did a lot of good things. There has been a lot of critique of missionaries as early points of colonialism.”
Bascom believes the reading will engage students and make them think differently.
“I will be sharing a part [of the book] with the students that is extremely relevant to their lives,” Bascom said.
Bascom led a reading at Northwestern seven years ago where he read a part of another book that he wrote. Bascom’s hope is the event sparks new ideas and thoughts.
“It doesn’t hurt to think honestly in terms of what is appropriate in terms of Christian intervention,” Bascom said.
Junior Amie Adams attended a Deep Song reading this past fall with the authors of “Love and Salt” and will be introducing Bascom.
“I recently had the opportunity to read his latest book,” Adams said. “I appreciated his reflection on how missionaries and their families interact with people of other cultures through his personal experience.”
Adams encourages students to come and experience it first hand.
“Even if an author is writing in a genre that you aren’t familiar with, you just might find something new that you really enjoy,” Adams said.
After the reading there will be a time of open questions and discussion led by Tim Bascom.
The event is free to attend and open to the public.
