A Visit from Poet Naomi Shihab Nye

On Monday, April 25, Hopkins was delighted to welcome poet Naomi Shihab Nye as our guest for our annual Celebration of Poetry. Nye describes herself as a “wandering poet” and has spent 40 years traveling the country and the world to lead writing workshops and inspire students of all ages. Her visit to Hopkins was no different, and throughout the morning she shared her insightful poems, thoughtful words and observations with students and faculty.

The morning began at assembly, where Nye spoke of her family and their influence on her writing. Nye was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother and grew up in St. Louis, Jerusalem, and San Antonio. Throughout her career, Nye has drawn 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, and uses her writing to attest to our shared humanity. Nye’s mother encouraged her to write at a young age, and she had her first poem published at the age of 7. Nye shared that she kept a notebook of the things her young son would say when he was 3 & 4 years old, and read some aloud. She also shared some student works collected during her travels and visits to other schools, as well as a few of her own poems.

Following assembly, Nye led an intimate poetry workshop in the Weissman Room. She gave students several brief assignments to collect thoughts and words on different themes, and asked them to combine words from both into a short poem. By the end of the session, the small group shared a diverse collection of poems with each other. Nye reacted to each poem with encouragement and enthusiasm, and asked several students to share copies of their work with her.

Later in a packed Q&A session in the Calarco Library, students asked Nye about her influences, writing process and how she feels about critics. Many students stayed after the session to get their copies of her books signed. Nye ended her visit to Hopkins with a small luncheon with faculty in Stone Lounge.

Naomi Nye is the author and/or editor of more than 30 volumes, including 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East (2005), and is the recipient of numerous awards for her work. To learn more about her career and written works, please click here.