Fall for the Book 2019

The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University and the Maydan, the Center's digital scholarship platform, present the third annual Graduate Student Book Review Colloquium on Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, in collaboration with Fall for the Book. Fourteen graduate students from multiple disciplines and universities across the world will present their reviews of the books displayed below. Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at GMU invites Mason and the community to the Colloquium. 

You too can get your work published in a national magazine. Ken Budd will enlighten you on the art of article writing and teach you how to give your article purpose, target your audience, and find reliable sources. Budd has written for The New York Times, Smithsonian, National Geographic, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s, and was the editor for AARP. He is also the author of the memoir The Voluntourist: A Six Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi.  

Children's book authors, Maria Ribbing Cornell, author of The Boy and the Tree, Keosha Sath, author of Just Like You, Kiara Brown, author of Princess Pretend and the Not Knight, and Michael D. Gatson, author of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep discuss writing modern day stories for younger audiences that are diverse or underrepresented. With characters navigating challenges from self-acceptance to immigration to PTSD, they explore inclusive and empowering messages that confront social constructs and destigmatize emotional struggles in a call for a more compassionate future.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. 

Learn to appropriately critique a story in this interactive workshop. Middle and high school writers will submit their writing in advance, and YA authors Christina June and Katy Upperman will critique the first 500 words at the workshop. Works will be critiqued anonymously and with respect, so young writers can feel safe in submitting their stories and voicing their opinions. Attendees will leave the workshop knowing how to appropriately and respectfully critique their peer's work. Any pieces that are not critiqued during the session, due to time, will be returned with feedback to the author.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. 

In this introductory hands-on workshop, join poet Mark Fitzgerald, author of Downburst, to examine a variety of poems, including haiku, meditative poems, ekphrastic poems, and narrative poems. We will analyze a number of poems from well-known authors and discuss form, style, voice, rhythm, imagery, metaphor, point of view, and other poetic elements. Each participant will produce an original poem based on a writing prompt and receive feedback from the class. Participants are asked to bring a photo or work of art that fascinates them.