Come on and Fall for the Book

George Mason University literature lovers hope area residents will Fall for the Book again this year. The 13th annual literature festival will be held Sept. 18-23 with dozens of free events in locations around the Washington, D.C. area, including Prince William County. One of this year’s highlights is the presentation of the Mason Award to legendary novelist Stephen King.

William Miller has been involved with Fall for the Book since its planning in the 1990s. He volunteers as executive director of the festival. Miller is the director of the master of fine arts English program and of the graduate creative writing program at George Mason University.

The Arlington resident said last year’s festival attracted about 20,000 participants. About 100 people attended two events in Manassas last year.

This year, locally, Fall for the Book has partnered with All Saints Catholic Church at 9300 Stonewall Road in Manassas. “We try to take events to the people, to the communities where they live and where they read… to their libraries, their schools, their community centers, their churches, etc.,” explained Miller.

On Sept. 22 at the church, Amy Waters Yarsinske of the Norfolk Historical Foundation will discuss her latest book, “Flyboys Over Hampton Roads,” about the training camp of World War I pilots.

The Norfolk native has been writing for 25 years. She is looking forward to returning to Manassas. “When I engage with my fans and those interested in the subject of one of my books you never know what is going to happen,” said Yarsinske. “These exchanges are informative for me, informative for them and certainly, I hope, delightful all around. You see your subject through someone else’s lens in these exchanges and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.”

This year, Fall for the Book is marking the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks – asking, “How have the U.S. and the world changed in the aftermath of that day? How have individuals changed as well — in their actions, in their understanding of self and others?”