NOVA-AN English Prof. to Present at “Fall for the Book,” Oct. 29

Nicole Tong, professor of English at NOVA’s Annandale Campus, and the inaugural Fairfax Poet Laureate, will be in conversation with Poetry Society of America President Kimiko Hahn as part of George Mason University’s Fall for the Book Festival on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 12 p.m. The two writers will discuss the importance of teaching the works of living poets to help ignite the imaginations of their students.

Tong is  author of the poetry collection, How to Prove a Theory, winner of the 2017 Jean Feldman Poetry Prize. Of the collection, Poet Jennifer Atkinson says, “The evidence Nicole Tong’s How to Prove a Theory offers is a testimony of storms and tides, of memory and tested insights, each deeply moving poem a thought experiment, a theory to explain the inexplicable.”

Hahn’s latest collection, Foreign Bodies, uses languages reminiscent of the Japanese tanka (similar to haiku, but 31 syllables in five lines, 5/7/5/7/7). BOMB Magazine calls it “a striking, shapeshifting volume from ‘one of the most fascinating female poets of our time.’”

For details on how to register for the free Crowdcast event, visit https://fallforthebook.org/teachlivingpoets/ or https://fallforthebook.org/2020-festival-events/ to see a full schedule of Fall for the Book’s virtual events.