Your Basic Yak
A night where three writers from different genres read their work. They typically hail from the Fiction, non-fiction and the poetry programs of the George Mason MFA program. Every Yak is followed immediately by an open mic where those who are dying to share their short creations (usually 1 or 2 poems or flash fiction) do so.
Open Mic Yak
An open microphone in the traditional sense. Readers can sign up beforehand to read their work or that very night, there is no pre-set schedule and the night is supposed to be as "open" as possible. Readers are asked to mindful of their time so even gets a shot. The open mic traditionally caters to poets but flash prosey writers are encouraged to attend.
Story Telling Yak
This Yak concentrates on stories told in the oral tradition. A night where one and all share their best story of say: love lost, the best football game they ever played, hitchhiking with Hungarian gangsters, a brush with death, etc.. The stories can be fiction, true or "real enough" you can use props, multiple story tellers and any number of other methods to make it as fun as possible. The only rule is that you don’t rely on reading directly from the page (notes or passages are fine) but this night concentrates on the ORAL tradition. This night caters towards more of the prose writers but poets are also welcome to sign up.
Slamming Yak
A work in progress that will entail a poetry slam competition of the DC area MFA programs, including: University of Maryland, American University & possibly Johns Hopkins and University of Virginia.