ustaadha
@maryahc.bsky.social
Arabic teacher | linguist | storyteller | furious MaryahConverse.com
Hey, look! It's me! And my work is "remarkable"!
@muleskinnerjournal.bsky.social · last yr.Muleskinner closes out our meditations on Tension with a remarkable story from Maryah Converse. Please afford it the space and honor it deserves. We’ll see you soon. www.muleskinnerjournal.com/seeking-citrus #litmag #flashfiction #literature #writers #fiction #fictionsubmissions #fictionwriter
"Seeking Citrus" tells a story of Gaza - of the men and boys trying to provide for shattered families, of dreams ground beneath bulldozers, and of hope remaining steadfast. Just published by Muleskinner Journal and available online.
“Seeking Citrus”
Loss in the Gaza Strip extends well beyond the loss of lives.
maryahconverse.com
@ari-shapiro.bsky.social put my voice on air during the Egyptian Revolution, and I've been a fan ever since. I wish him success in his next endeavors!
Foreman really brings out how it feels to witness #Gaza from your socials. I'm so pleased that this piece will accompany mine in the next edition of @muleskinnerjournal.bsky.social on the theme Tension
@muleskinnerjournal.bsky.social · last yr.A.Z. Foreman brings us a sonnet cut short, for our time. This poem brings it all home. www.muleskinnerjournal.com/omar-in-gaza... #writingcommunity #litmag #flashfiction #literature #writers #fiction #fictionsubmissions #fictionwriter #poets #poetry #poetryjournals
Multiple studies have documented how schools have been integral to this virus’s spread, which is something worth keeping in mind now that students are back in school and the current Covid wave is continuing to surge.
Woo hoo! I'm getting published again! Look for my short story about #displacement in #Gaza in the coming weeks from @muleskinnerjournal.bsky.social
This was a popular trail this weekend, at the end of the cooler springtime, and approaching the end of the wildflower season.
Jordan Trail with Tatreez
Two projects of revival converged on this trip: the preservation of Jordan's nature for tourist enjoyment, and the post-Gaza reclamation of traditional Palestinian embroidery practices.
maryahconverse.com
An astonishing over 80% of the Byzantine wall around Umm Al Jimaal remains to this day, to one degree or another, and a similar amount of the city within. Explore with me!
Religious and Official Umm Al Jimaal
Part 2 on the Basalt City: While the residential neighborhoods are what makes Umm Al Jimaal unique for archaeologists, its monumental architecture also still stands.
maryahconverse.com
This is becoming something of a Jordanian "Bucket List" year. There are so many things I didn't get around to the other times I lived here, none moreso than this archaeological gem in the Black Desert. maryahconverse.com/2025/06/04/r...
The Homes of Umm Al Jimaal
Part 1 on the Basalt City: Rome has monumental buildings like the Colosseum and Athens the Parthenon, but even Petra only has temples and no residential buildings. Umm Al Jimaal has preserved over …
maryahconverse.com
I wanted this story to be more raw than I usually write, more visceral, jagged and unsettling. The editors of Boudin, "spicy online cousin" of The McNeese Review, have chosen my flash fiction story "Fly Away" for their Finding Home: Immigration and Displacement issue. I hope you find it compelling
“Fly Away”: life in rubble
I wasn’t sure I understood the appeal of “flash fiction” – the challenge to tell a complete story in a thousand words or less – until Gaza.
maryahconverse.com
Visiting Wadi Dana has been on my wishlist for a very long time. It's a stunning scene, all the moreso for its sustainable development and ecotourism, and I was not disappointed.
Wadi Dana: Jordan’s gorgeous gorge
The last time I lived in Jordan, the Wadi Dana trail was at the top of my places I wanted to see, but the only way to get there was a rental car, which would have involved driving in Amman, which w…
maryahconverse.com
In the United States, we don't call it #wasta - that's too unsavory - we call it "networking" and say "It's all about who you know." #PeaceCorps comes through for my dissertation!
Peace Corps wasta: an oldie but goodie
I knew wasta (connections) would play a crucial role in participant recruitment for my dissertation data collection. I underestimated how outsized the role of my Peace Corps wasta would be.
maryahconverse.com
April is the most magnificent month for traveling around #Jordan, at the height of color, deep in the heart of wildflower season. #WildJordan #Ajloun maryahconverse.com/2025/04/18/a...
Ajloun Forest: A riot of spring flowers
Most of Jordan is a high, flat plateau of rocky desert, sometimes sandy to the south and east. Except the west side, from the Dead Sea, almost straight up into the mountains.
maryahconverse.com
On a clear day, Gadara occupies an arresting perch high above the mouth of the Yarmouk River, the foot of the Golan Heights, Lake Tiberius (i.e. the Biblical Sea of Galilee), and the headwaters of the Jordan River. I love it! maryahconverse.com/2025/04/11/u...
Umm Qais: Clifftop Decapolis city
There is nowhere in Jordan I’d rather visit in March or April than the northeastern heights, and particularly the two dozen centuries of ruins at Umm Qais, ancient Gadara.
maryahconverse.com
I haven't had a lot of bandwidth to for creative writing this past year, between PhDing and current events, but when I do, it's about the unfolding disaster in #Gaza. Now 3 of my short pieces are available print-on-demand or in e-book in the #Genocide Anthology. maryahconverse.com/2025/03/30/g...
Empathizing with Gaza for the #Genocide Anthology
Three short pieces of mine – one flash fiction and two poems – are being published in the #Genocide Anthology from Culture Cult Press out of Kolkata, India.
maryahconverse.com
To be honest, I've been rolling #MuslimWomensDay over from bullet journal to bullet journal (#BuJo!), year after year, without actually understanding what it is. And this year, its founder says it's cancelled. maryahconverse.com/2025/03/27/m...
Muslim Women’s Day: What’s it for?
To be honest, I’ve been rolling #MuslimWomensDay over from bullet journal to bullet journal, year after year, without actually understanding what it is. And this year, its founder says itR…
maryahconverse.com
“I insist on being shocked. I am never going to become immune. I think that’s a kind of failure to see so much of it that you die inside. I want to be surprised and shocked every time.” ― Toni Morrison
Shareholders want this. So do customers.
Nancy Levine Stearns@nancylevinestearns.bsky.social · 2y ago💥 Costco, Apple and John Deere shareholders have rejected anti-DEI proposals brought by nonprofit National Center for Public Policy Research. In yesterday's shareholders meeting at Apple and today at Deere, director from the NCPPR said, 'DEI is out, merit is in.' Shareholders: DEI is in.
Today I’m thinking of Miep Gies, an ordinary person who risked her own life to protect the Frank family during WWII. Her quote reminds me that we all have the power to help others. To stand up against evil. To do the right thing even when it’s hard. We can all turn on a light.
The CBPOne app is officially down. This takes away the established process for people to legally seek asylum at the border. Let's be clear: seeking asylum is a human right. Losing appointments will only cause desperation and confusion — not order — at our southern border.
The executive orders signed yesterday are already wreaking havoc in the immigration system, affecting refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable new and potential Americans. More is sure to come. This will not make America stronger, because new Americans are vital to our economy
HIAS@hias.org · 2y agoWhile we wait for executive orders to be signed, let's talk about why refugee resettlement matters in the U.S. 💭
Kindle/Goodreads says I only read 14 books last year because it doesn't count books I've re-read, like re-reading @authornalinisingh.bsky.social 's entire Psy-Changeling oeuvre.... Re-reading old favorites is my antidote to Trump, so expect lousy stats for the next 4 years....
