Hickory – The Visiting Writers Series, established in 1988, features readings and presentations by authors who have distinguished themselves in literature and often meet with students to discuss the stories behind their works. The series’ mission remains the promotion of literary experiences with contemporary writers meant to engage and educate young people at LR. All events, which take place on the LR campus in Hickory unless otherwise noted, are free, and the public is welcome to attend.
Naomi Shihab Nye
LRU’s The Visiting Writers Series will Present The Little Read: Naomi Shihab Nye on the following dates and times.
Thursday, April 20, 2023, at 12pm, in the P.E. Monroe Auditorium.
Saturday, April 22, 2023, at 7pm, in Belk Centrum.
About Naomi Shihab Nye
Naomi Shihab Nye describes herself as a “wandering poet.” She has spent more than 40 years traveling the country and the world to lead writing workshops and inspiring students of all ages. Nye was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother and grew up in St. Louis, Jerusalem and San Antonio. Drawing on her Palestinian-American heritage, the cultural diversity of her home in Texas and her experiences traveling in Asia, Europe, Canada, Mexico and the Middle East, Nye uses her writing to attest to our shared humanity.
Known for poetry that lends a fresh perspective to ordinary events, people and objects, Nye has said that, for her, “the primary source of poetry has always been local life, random characters met on the streets, our own ancestry sifting down to us through small essential daily tasks.” She is also considered one of the leading female poets of the American Southwest. A contributor to “Contemporary Poets” wrote that Nye “brings attention to the female as a humorous, wry creature with brisk, hard intelligence and a sense of personal freedom unheard of” in the history of pioneer women.
Nye is the recipient of numerous honors and awards for her work, including the Ivan Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Book Critics Circle, the Lavan Award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, the Carity Randall Prize, the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry award, the Robert Creeley Prize and many Pushcart Prizes.
She has received fellowships from the Lannan Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation and she was a Witter Bynner Fellow. From 2010 to 2015, she served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. In 2018, she was awarded the Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Texas Institute of Letters. Nye is the Poetry Foundation’s Young People’s Poet Laureate. Nye continues to live and work in San Antonio, Texas where she is professor of creative writing at Texas State University.
For more information, please visit https://www.lr.edu/public-events/visiting-writers-series
