University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

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Quiet settled in Nightbird Books as songwriters competing in the “One Book, Many Songs” competition moved to the front of the audience. For the second year in a row, local songwriters were given the opportunity to share songs they had written with the Fayetteville community. “’One Book, One Community’ is a campus-wide reading program where everyone on campus and in the community ideally reads one book together each year, and we have events for the community based on that book,” Chris Goering, committee member of the program, said. In 2011, Goering had the idea to create a competition where local songwriters could write songs based on the themes found in the chosen book. “I think there is no better way to communicate to the world than through song ... you may be able to reach more people with those ideas than the book itself,” Goering said. The 2012 book was The Working Poor by David K. Shipley. This book was chosen because of the relevance that the economy and poverty have during election years. Jeanie Lopez-Flall was the first contestant, and before she began singing, she shared with the audience her experience with poverty. “When I was younger I lived in Guatemala. While my father was in the United States trying to get visas for my family, we were living in a home made of dirt walls,” Lopez-Hall said. “So this is just written about my experience, and trying to do better than people thought I could do.” The winner of the competition, Judd Burns, brought in a piano to perform his song, titled “Stay Flungry.” “We push and strive, but it never amounts to a Single sliver of an ounce of the Life we lost and our lack of energy And the three meals that we slave to earn Aren’t enough quell the debt we’ve churned So I think I’ve found a recipe for me And that is to stay hungry,” Burns sang. The prize for winning was four hours of free studio recording time at East Hall Recording studio in Fayetteville. Goering hoped that the competition would continue to grow and that more people would support the “One Book, One Community” program in the years to come.

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STUDENT LIFE ONE BOOK, MANY SONGS 28 TOP Organzier of the “One Book, Many Songs” competition, Chris Goering, introduces The Working Poor , his inspiration for the event. BOTTOM Freshman Jeanie Lopez-Hall strummed her guitar as she sang of her experiences with poverty. STORY Casey Freeman PHOTOS Whit Pruitt DESIGN Rachel Tucker ONE BOOK MANYSONGS

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