Naomi Shihab Nye episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 19, 2025 · 1H 35M

Naomi Shihab Nye

from Books on the Bed · host Matt Sawyer

This week we visit with Naomi Shihab Nye in San Antonio, Texas. 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. Naomi is the author and/or editor of more than 30 volumes of poetry, four novels, and an essay and short story collection. Learn more about Naomi at the American Academy of Poets.   Naomi's Books on the Bed: Garden Time by M.S. Merwin Every War Has Two Losers by William Stafford An Ordinary Woman by Lucille Clifton Does the Land Remember Me? A Memoir of Palestine by Aziz Shihab Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha The Year I Stopped to Notice by Miranda Keeling Matt's Gifts for Naomi: The Listening Skin by Glenis Redmond George Masa: A Life Reimagined by Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel Ways of Being Home by Cecilia Sotelo Cornejo (film)  

This week we visit with Naomi Shihab Nye in San Antonio, Texas. 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. Naomi is the author and/or editor of more than 30 volumes of poetry, four novels, and an essay and short story collection. Learn more about Naomi at the American Academy of Poets.   Naomi's Books on the Bed: Garden Time by M.S. Merwin Every War Has Two Losers by William Stafford An Ordinary Woman by Lucille Clifton Does the Land Remember Me? A Memoir of Palestine by Aziz Shihab Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha The Year I Stopped to Notice by Miranda Keeling Matt's Gifts for Naomi: The Listening Skin by Glenis Redmond George Masa: A Life Reimagined by Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel Ways of Being Home by Cecilia Sotelo Cornejo (film)

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Naomi Shihab Nye

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This episode was published on June 19, 2025.

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This week we visit with Naomi Shihab Nye in San Antonio, Texas. 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...

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