Descending from a
half-Palestinian and half-American family tree, Naomi Shihab Nye is an
appealing figure paving the way for ethnic poets and young poets alike.
Although she was born in Missouri, she is well traveled. She lived in
Jerusalem but currently resides in Texas with her son, Madison, and husband,
Michael, who is a photographer. The fact that Nye originated from such a
transient and ethnic family acted as a springboard for her future career as
an author. She is known for her essays and anthologies of the Middle East,
which includes, perhaps her most famous Middle Eastern based anthology,
Different Ways to Pray, published in 1980. Howe
ver, despite her wide
range of exposures to other cultures, Naomi Shihab Nye often chooses to
write about the little details of life that we often take for granted. She
says that she wanted to remember all of the details in her eventful and
fruitful life. Consequentially, she keeps a journal. She has had a hunger to
write poetry since seven years of age, when she composed her first poem.
Since then she received an education from Trinity University located in
Texas, along with many awards. Her works Different Ways to Pray and
Hugging the Jukebox won the Voertman Poetry Prize. She has also
earned three Pushcart Prizes. Her books Hugging the Jukebox and
This Same Sky have been selected as worthy by the American Library
Association. Naomi Shihab Nye has been featured on NPR and Prair
ie Home
Companion. She has been granted a Guggenheim fellowship. Nye has also
appeared on more than one PBS documentaries. She has received the Jane
Adams Children’s Book Award and The Paterson Poetry Prize. Naomi Shihab Nye
has written or selected numerous works including The Red Suitcase,
Salting the Ocean, Habibi, This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems From Around
The World, Yellow Glove, Words under the Words, Never in a Hurry, and Fuel.
In addition to being a noteworthy author, Nye is also a singer and a teacher
of a poetry workshop and a first-year MSA seminar.
