Hey, look! It's my story about Gaza!

Hey, look! It's me! And my work is "remarkable"!

"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.

@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!

You can't make this shit up!

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

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.

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!

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...

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

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.

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!

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...

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...

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...

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...

“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.

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

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....

Personally, I prefer a navy blue....

Me, too, man!

“Between Iraq and a ‘hard place’ (Palestine),” as Jordan’s king says, I learn by teaching in Jordan to challenge my stereotypes and love rural Arab language and culture, while also questioning the role of American power in the world during the Iraqi Occupation #BluePit #ME #A #W #TR

Join me as I navigate hijab, public busses and ancient history in Jordan, felucca and revolution in Egypt, and the shadow of violence in Iraq and Palestine, as a hubristic yet humbled young American abroad during the Iraqi Occupation and the Arab Spring #BluePit #NF Collection #A #Q #TR

To be trusted to teach their children, I must earn the respect of a rural Jordanian community, while also coming to understand the realities and limitations of being an American abroad, set against the backdrop of the bloodiest years of the Iraqi Occupation #BluePit #ME #A #W #TR

Eat, teach and love with me in the company of a diverse variety of Jordanians, Iraqis, Egyptians and Palestinians who help me know myself and my place in the world as an American in the fraught new millennium in the Middle East #BluePit #NF Collection #A #Q #TR

Discover Jordan, Arabic and Islam with me as I grow my empathy for Arab women and families by teaching in rural Jordan, while also facing my own limitations and stereotypes as a twenty-something, and the realities of being a daughter of American imperialism #BluePit #ME #A #W #TR

These collected vignettes of encounters with Arab men, women and children span Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine. Ride busses, boats and trains with me as I learn about myself, my stereotypes, and my responsibilities as an American in the world and the Arab Spring #BluePit #NF Collection #A #Q #TR

worth sharing in times of crisis....

I'm very excited for this and ready to go!

An important thing to remember. Also the only difference between you and the homeless people you meet. Be kind

With more than 200 journos killed in Gaza, I worry about Anas Baba almost every day, & am so grateful to @npr.org for continuing to seek out Palestinian voices inside the conflict zone

How enlightened!

Great art by Rick Frausto

So nice to hear @npr.org 's Leila Fadel in Damascus ... kind of an Arab Spring full circle moment for me, having discovered Leila's excellent work while we were both in Cairo for the Egyptian Revolution