FFtB Monday: Prohibition, Racial Identity, Readings and More

Fall for the Book continues today with discussions on Prohibition, racial identity, Civil War, and a journey to come to terms with a father's death. Read on for a full schedule of Monday's FFtB events. Check back every day for an updated event schedule.

Note that most, but not all, events will take place at George Mason University. Others will be hosted at Blenheim and Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center in Fairfax City.

• Call and Response Exhibition: 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 Fall for the Book, with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Tuesday only. Johnson Center, Gallery 123; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Legal Scholar Daniel Sharfstein: Associate professor of Law at Vanderbilt University and author of The Invisible Line, Daniel Sharfstein shares the stories of three multi-racial American families to explain why racial identity in the U.S. is not as simple as black and white. He shares the stories of three multi-racial American families to explain why racial identity in the U.S. is not as simple as black and white. Johnson Center Cinema, 12-1:15 p.m.
• Economists Bryan Caplan, Tyler Cowen: Mason economics professor and author of Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is More Fun and Less Work Than You Think, Bryan Caplan reads with Tyler Cowen, chair of economics at Mason and author of the critically acclaimed book The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better. Johnson Center, Room 116; 1:30-2:45 p.m.
• Poet and Islamic Studies Scholar: Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic studies at American University and author of Journey Into America: The Challenge of Islam, a study of what it means to be a modern-day Muslim, reads from his recent poetry collection, Suspended Somewhere Between. Sandy Spring Bank Tent, Johnson Center Plaza; 1:30-2:45 p.m.
• Civil War Panel: Steven Bernstein, author of The Confederacy’s Last Northern Offensive, Jane Censer, author of The Reconstruction of White Southern Womanhood, 1865 – 1895, Christopher Hamner, author of Enduring Battle: American Soldiers in Three Wars, 1776 – 1945, and Charles Mauro, author of A Southern Spy in Northern Virginia, provide fresh perspectives on The Civil War during this sesquicentennial year. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning. Grand Tier III, Center for the Arts; 3-4:15 p.m.
• Memoirist Rick Rinehart: Rick Rinehart reads from his memoir, Men of Kent: Ten Boys, a Fast Boat, and the Coach Who Made Them Champions, the story of how the Kent’s School 1972 rowing team capped a perfect 46-0 season with a breathtaking win at the Henley Royal Regatta in England and embedded themselves in sports history. Sandy Spring Bank Tent, Johnson Center Plaza; 3-4:15 p.m.
• Dancer/Choreographer: Internationally renowned ballet dancer Jacques d'Amboise, the chief protégé of George Balanchine, shares stories from his memoir, I Was a Dancer. Sponsored by the George Mason University Dance Department. Johnson Center Cinema, 3-4:15 p.m.
• Novelist Tayari Jones: After three critically acclaimed novels, including Leaving Atlanta and The Untelling, Tayari Jones’ latest book, Silver Sparrow, presents two sisters connected only through their bigamous father and follows their journey to tear down and ultimately survive the secrets and illusions that have long cast a shadow over their lives. Sponsored by the GMU Creative Writing Program. Research I, Room 163; 4:30-5:45 p.m.
• Folklorist Dorothy Noyes: Dorothy Noyes, author of Fire in the Placa, winner of the Book Prize of the Fellows of the American Folklore Society, shares how the study of folklore contributes to her research on European immigrant communities in the United States. Student Union Building II, Ballroom; 4:30-5:45 p.m.
• Historian Garrett Peck: Garrett Peck, who leads the Temperance Tour of Prohibition-related sites in the nation's capital, shares stories from Prohibition in Washington, D.C.: How Dry We Weren’t, his book about the exuberant and crime-filled speakeasies that once numbered in the thousands. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning. Sandy Spring Bank Tent, Johnson Center Plaza; 4:30-5:45 p.m.
• Poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths: Poet, painter and photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths — praised for her “stunning lyric grace” and “earthly and epic gravity” — reads from her recent collections, The Requited Distance and Miracle Arrhythmia. Sponsored by Split this Rock Poetry Festival and the GMU Creative Writing Program. Grand Tier III, Center for the Arts; 5-6:15 p.m.
• Novelist Francine Prose: Francine Prose, author of numerous critically acclaimed novels, short story collections, and works of nonfiction, talks about viewing America in a new light, similar to the protagonist of her recently released My New American Life: an Albanian immigrant struggling with the politically and culturally complex post-9/11 world around her. Sponsored by the Fairfax Library Foundation. Johnson Center Cinema, 6:30-7:45 p.m.
• Barb Winters’ book Letters to Virginia: Correspondence from three generations of Alexandrians before, during and after the Civil War, draws on letters from three Alexandria families — the Eaches, Fendalls, and Tacketts — discovered by Winters while working as a library assistant at the Local History Special Collections Department of Alexandria’s Barrett Library. This treasure trove of history as it was once lived offers insight into the times: the deadly toll of cholera, the uncertainty of living in an occupied town, and even the experience of two Confederate soldiers who became POWs. Sponsored by the Dolley Madison Library and Gale Cengage Learning. Blenheim, 7-8:15 p.m.
• Folklorist Margaret Bennett: One of Scotland’s leading folklorists — and singers! — Margaret Bennett explores traditional Scottish customs and rites of passage over four centuries in Scottish Customs: From the Cradle to the Grave. Student Union Building II, Ballroom; 7:30-8:45 p.m.
• Novelist Jacob Paul: Jacob Paul reads from his novel Sarah/Sara, the story of a young Jewish girl who embarks on a solo kayaking journey after the death of her father, a World Trade Center survivor who was later killed in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. Johnson Center, Meeting Room G; 7:30-8:45 p.m.
• Novelist Abraham Vergese: Abraham Verghese, renowned physician and author of two works of nonfiction, My Own Country and The Tennis Partner, reads from and discusses his debut novel, Cutting for Stone, and shares how his experiences as the Ethiopian-born son of Indian parents shaped his medical and writing careers. Sponsored by Inova Health System. Sherwood Community Center, 8-9:15 p.m.

Information from FFtB's website.