Frequency: Tuning into What Works for my Writing

Creating and balancing a writing life is one of the most challenging part of being a writer in the world.  Now that its been about 2 years post-MFA, I have some reflection space to think about my writing life and how it has changed since MFA:  During my time in graduate school, I was familiar …

Clearing the debris: My ode to Spring

The coming of spring is inevitable, but our renewal is not.  Its a choice like everything else. I have to choose which story to believe. What to hang on to and what to let go. This lesson is not one that was dropped into lap.  Up until recently I would go through the seasons of my …

Writing after MFA: Kinda Like Sex After Childbirth…

With every post MFA blog post I am realizing that writing after my MFA has kinda been like sex after childbirth. No really, stick with me here. My son is 4 years old now, but i didnt exactly have the a normal time healing from 3rd degree lacerations ( his shoulder was stuck for a …

Orientalist Travel Posters: Pretty Little Liars

So what does my graduate seminar about Arab American literature have to do with some old-school travel posters? Well... My seminar discusses Arab American writers'  journey towards self-actualization and self-identification...this journey is made all the more challenging after generations of orientalist and imperialist thinking that attempted to boil our culture down to the bare minimum, …

Published!

My short story- In the Time of the Birthing Tree-  based on the events of 1948 Nakba in Yaffa Palestine- is being published in The Masters Review! It is available to order now! http://www.masters-review.com/buy

This is Etcetera: MFA Wrap up

In preparation for graduation, we are asked to write a letter to chronicle our journey at Lesley University's MFA program.  Here is what I came up with:   My time at Lesley helped me not only develop my writing but my overall sense of commitment to the writing life.   These two years have allowed me …

Just Another Grad School Rant

So after two long weeks of not so patiently waiting for a response to my 4th and final submission of work for my semester, I open up my inbox and  was excited to see that long awaited email... but after the reading the first line, my excitement quickly turned to WTF: I've re-read your work …

Timing is Everything

Yes I only have one semester left, but I decided to take a semester leave of absence from my MFA program.  Even though I had considered this option pretty much every semester since I started, I managed to eek it out and be okay with what I was producing...until now. Timing is everything... The same …