Naomi Shihab Nye is the author of numerous books of poems, including Transfer; You and Yours, which received the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award; 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, a collection of new and selected poems about the Middle East; Fuel; Red Suitcase; and Hugging the Jukebox. She is also the author of several books of poetry and fiction for children, including Habibi, for which she received the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. Nye was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Palestinian father and an American mother. During her high school years, she lived in Ramallah in Palestine, the Old City in Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas. 

 

Nye gives voice to her experience as an Arab-American through poems about heritage and peace that overflow with a humanitarian spirit. About her work, the poet William Stafford has said, "her poems combine transcendent liveliness and sparkle along with warmth and human insight. She is a champion of the literature of encouragement and heart. Reading her work enhances life." Nye's honors include awards from the International Poetry Forum and the Texas Institute of Letters, the Carity Randall Prize, and four Pushcart Prizes. She has been a Lannan Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Witter Bynner Fellow. In 1988, she received the Academy of American Poets' Lavan Award, judged by W. S. Merwin. She served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2010 to 2015.

Please note that seating is limited. This is an optional ticketed event. If you prefer to skip the luncheon and find food nearby (or at the hotel's restaurant) you'll have this break to do that (the conference program of events will resume at 2pm).