Arts & Entertainment

Fall for the Book: Authors with Ties to GMU

These authors have ties to Mason — professors, alumni and students.

Authors participating in the 14th annual Fall for the Book Festival include professors, alumni and students of George Mason University.  This list provides their presentations Wednesday through Sunday.

Exhibition: Call and Response - Johnson Center, Gallery 123

Current students and alumni of Mason’s MFA Poetry Program and the School of Art, faculty and a few others came together this summer to participate in the “Call and Response” challenge, giving artists and writers an original work by another contributor to inspire a piece of their own. Now paired together, these pieces are on display throughout the week of Fall for the Book: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Friday, September 28. A panel of participants will discuss the “Call and Response” exhibit in the gallery on Friday at 3 p.m. Helen Frederick, professor in the School of Art, and Susan Tichy, professor in the English Department, partnered to organize the exhibition and program. 

Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. — Naturalist Martin Ogle - Founder’s Hall, Room 125, George Mason University, 3351 Fairfax Drive, Arlington

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In the hustle and bustle of modern life, centering oneself in a place offers perspective and insights. In his book "In the Eye of the Hawk: Reflections Along the Potomac", Ogle, former chief naturalist at Potomac Overlook Regional Park, draws wisdom from a place that he inhabited for almost three decades. Ogle is the recipient of George Mason University’s first Arlington Green Patriot Award, recognizing an individual, business or organization that exemplifies sustainability in Arlington, Va. 

Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. — Memoirist Ken Budd - Shirlington Library, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington

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“I want to live a life that matters.” With these eight emotional words, Mason alum Ken Budd, author of "The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem", embarks on a quest to help others—from post-Katrina New Orleans to a special needs school in China, from climate change research in Ecuador to projects in Kenya, Costa Rica, and the West Bank.

Thursday, 1:30 p.m. — Public Policy Expert Philip Auerswald - Johnson Center, Meeting Room G

Mason public policy professor Auerswald examines economic trends and gathers stories of entrepreneurial success to explain how today’s innovators will create new opportunities for the future in "The Coming Prosperity: How Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the Global Economy".

Thursday, 1:30 p.m. — Higher Education: Challenges of the Future - Johnson Center Cinema

Amid rising tuition costs and sagging state support for public colleges, increasing demands for job training over a liberal arts educations, and rising online education opportunities, today's education leaders are struggling and oftentimes not finding the same way forward. Witness recent events at the University of Virginia--the firing and rehiring of the president. This panel of some of the most experienced people in higher education gathers to discuss the challenges of today: Stephen Trachtenberg, former president of George Washington University and author of "Big Man on Campus: A University President Speaks Out on Higher Education"; and Carol Harter, former president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Peter Pober, Mason communications professor and former president of the faculty senate, moderates the panel.

Thursday, 3 p.m. — Middle East Scholar Bassam Haddad - Sandy Spring Bank Tent

The director of Mason’s Middle East Studies Program draws on his recent book "Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience" to explore how Syria’s pattern of state intervention had contributed to its prolonged economic stagnation by stifling development and innovation. Sponsored by the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies.

Thursday, 6 p.m. — Washington Writers’ Publishing House Short Story Winners - Research I, Room 163

David Taylor, author of "Success", Andrew Wingfield, author of "Right of Way", and David Ebenbach, author of "Into the Wilderness"—recipients of the 2008, 2010, and 2012 fiction prizes from the Washington Writers’ Publishing House—share stories and reflect on the craft of developing a short fiction collection.  Andrew Wingfield is a George Mason alum and professor.

Thursday, 6 p.m. — Masters of Fine Arts Fellows Reading - Grand Tier III, Center for the Arts

Students in Mason’s nationally ranked MFA program—including poets Benjamin Bever, Sheila McMullin, and Mike Walsh; fiction writers Lindsey Johnson and Nani Power; and nonfiction writer Mike Stein—share samples of the work that helped them win fellowships for their final year of graduate school.

Friday, Noon — Novelists and Short Story Writers Christopher Coake and Dallas Hudgens - Sandy Spring Bank Tent

Following his acclaimed story collection "We’re In Trouble", Coake recently made a startling debut as a novelist with "You Came Back", about grieving, estranged parents perhaps encountering the ghost of the son they lost. Mason MFA alum Hudgens, after his rollicking novels "Drive Like Hell" and "Season of Gene", has recently published his first story collection, "Wake Up, We’re Here", following “flawed men and women in search of connection, consolation and better odds.” 

Friday, Noon — Religious Studies Historian John Turner - Research I, Room 163

A professor of religious studies at Mason, Turner explores “a colossal figure in American religion, politics, and westward expansion” with his just published biography "Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet"—promising fresh perspectives of one of Mormonism’s most fervent promoters and defenders.  Sponsored by Gale Cengage.

Saturday, 3:30 p.m. — Poets Jonathan Stalling and Joshua Kryah - Sherwood Center, Performance Hall A, 3740 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax

Stalling, author of the collection "Yingelishi: Sinophonic English Poetry and Poetics", and Kryah, a professor at George Mason University and author of "We Are Starved and Glean", will share selections from their respective collections of poetry.

Sunday, 3 p.m. - Mason MFAers: Two Bens and the Path Less Taken - Johnson Center, Meeting Room G

Two grads of Mason's MFA program have taken turns at less conventional versions of creative endeavors: Ben Chadwick's co-authored book "Barbarians: A Handbook for Aspiring Savages" and Ben Wilkins' Orange Hat Comics web site. Listen as they explain how they stepped off the main path and ventured into the off-kilter for fun and maybe even eventual profit.

Sunday, 4:30 p.m. - Mason MFA Alumni Reading - Grand Tier III, Center for the Arts

Mason MFA alumni Brian Brodeur, author of the poetry collections "Natural Causes" and "Other Latitudes", Danielle Cadena Deulen, author of the essay collection "The Riots" and the poetry collection "Lovely Asunder", Melanie McCabe, author of the poetry collection "History of the Body", and Mike Maggio, author of story collection "The Keepers", will read from their respective works.

Sunday, 5:30 p.m. - Gazing Grain Chapbook Reading - Mason Hall Atrium

Gazing Grain Press, a project of Fall for the Book and alumni of Mason’s MFA program, honors the winner of its inaugural poetry chapbook contest, selected by judge Brian Teare. This reading and reception celebrates inclusive feminist poetry and promotes socially conscious work in today’s literary community. Fall for the Book is pleased to help launch this new project. Sponsored by Gazing Grain Press.

For more information about the Fall for the Book Festival, see these Patch articles:

Fall for the Book Festival Begins Wednesday

Local Authors at Fall for the Book


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