“One of the civic responsibilities of the poet in America today is
to continue to encourage a sense of civility among us and a sense of
curiosity about one another’s lives.
”
Timeline Photos
Congratulations to Academy Chancellor Naomi Shihab Nye on her nomination by the Swedish Arts Council for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize, the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature.
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Naomi Shihab Nye was born on March 12, 1952, 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, where she later received her BA in English and
world religions from Trinity University.
Nye is the author of numerous books of poems, including Transfer (BOA Editions, 2011); You and Yours (BOA Editions, 2005), which received the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award; 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East (Greenwillow Books, 2002), a collection of new and selected poems about the Middle East; Fuel (BOA Editions, 1998); Red Suitcase (BOA Editions, 1994); and Hugging the Jukebox (Far Corner Books, 1982).
She is also the author of several books of poetry and fiction for children, including Habibi (Simon Pulse, 1997), for which she received the Jane Addams Children’s Book award in 1998.
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.”... read more
***
a poem by
Naomi Shihab Nye
Red Brocade
The Arabs used to say,
When a stranger appears at your door,
feed him for three days
before asking who he is,
where he’s come from,
where he’s headed.
That way, he’ll have strength
enough to answer.
Or, by then you’ll be
such good friends
you don’t care.
Let’s go back to that.
Rice? Pine nuts?
Here, take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water
to your horse.
No, I was not busy when you came!
I was not preparing to be busy.
That’s the armor everyone put on
to pretend they had a purpose
in the world.
I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint
into your tea.
When a stranger appears at your door,
feed him for three days
before asking who he is,
where he’s come from,
where he’s headed.
That way, he’ll have strength
enough to answer.
Or, by then you’ll be
such good friends
you don’t care.
Let’s go back to that.
Rice? Pine nuts?
Here, take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water
to your horse.
No, I was not busy when you came!
I was not preparing to be busy.
That’s the armor everyone put on
to pretend they had a purpose
in the world.
I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint
into your tea.
Copyright © by Naomi Shihab Nye.
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