Writing program lecturer and veteran Boston arts critic Bill Marx leads a hands-on confab on what it really takes to judge a book, film, music concert, theater production, etc. Good reviewing is about much more than having an opinion; it is about having the chops to back it up. Do you have what it takes?

GSU Room 312, 10 - 11 a.m.

Learn how to prepare, plan, and promote your family biography. Ten minute one-on-one advice sessions for aspiring family biographers. This workshop will be led by Cheryl Ann Lambert, Assistant Professor of Public Relations and author of two family biographies — one self-published.

GSU Room 312, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

During a Fulbright stay in Jordan last April, Diane d/Almeida interviewed 8 women writers — from Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine. Come listen to the videos and hear their stories.

GSU Room 320-321, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

This workshop will teach you the basics of designing effective PowerPoint slides. You will learn about the different elements that make up a typical slide and how to orchestrate these elements to make your point clearly and persuasively. The workshop will be led by Joseph Bizup, Director of the CAS Writing Program.

GSU Room 315, 12 - 1 p.m.

This poetry workshop will be based on autobiographical and imagistic poems and writing prompts. This workshop will be led by Senior Lecturer Ellen Davis who has published poems in AGNI, California Quarterly, The Emily Dickinson Review, Harvard Review, and Salamander.

GSU Room 315, 1 - 2 p.m.

How to write a complete story in 20 minutes (or at least get a really good start). Dig your way out of those writers’ block days with an exercise that will help you come up with a basic plot structure that can be used for a short-story or a longer piece of writing. This workshop will be led by Kate Burak, teacher of writing in the College of Communication, co-author of Writing in the Works, and author of stories and poems published in Seventeen, Fiction, The Missouri Review, and other places.

GSU Alley, 1 - 2 p.m.

Advice on the art of rhyme from Vice-Versah, MC on Boston-based label AR Classic Records whose latest recording is “James and the Giant Beats.” Joining Vice will be guest lyricist and AR Classic Records label-mate Waterz.

GSU Alley, 1 - 2 p.m.

Write for five minutes on one of several topics and receive five-minute critique on your work. Encourages mindful and creative writing, every day. This workshop will be led by Professor Elizabeth Mehren, faculty adviser to the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ) and Professor of Journalism, author of three nonfiction books.

GSU Link, 2 - 3 p.m.

Learn how to picture stories through the Communication Writer’s Eye. This workshop will be led by Dorothy Clark, an award-winning teacher and coordinator of the Mass Communication Writing program. She has 25 years of experience writing slide shows and video scripts.

GSU Room 315, 2 - 3 p.m.