Naomi Shihab Nye at St. Edward's University [Reading Review]

Image From The Poetry Foundation

Note: this piece is by new contributor Andrew Hilbert.

On Monday night poet Naomi Shihab Nye spoke and read from her latest book of ultra-short stories, There is no Long Distance Now. The Mabee Ballroom at St. Edward's University was filled with students and fans, young and old.

Naomi Shihab Nye was introduced by former student and current teacher at St. Ed's, Carrie Fountain. In her introduction Carrie said, "Most days I wake up waiting to be more like myself but some days I wake up wanting to be more like Naomi Shihab Nye." The audience got a kick out of this statement and cheered roundly as Nye took the microphone.

Nye was extremely gracious and warm. Instead of opening with her own work, she opened with Richard Siken's poem, "Detail of the Woods," and explained that "poems could carry us away with just a few lines." As a young girl this was what made her fall in love with poetry - it is a genre, she said, that gives people the ability to enter other people's lives. She went on to explain that she often runs into people that say they wish they could read more poetry but they just don't have the time. "Well, poetry's just the genre for you, because you can sneak in a poem before breakfast," she said.

She expressed her love for found poetry and her love for her father who passed away four years ago. She struggled with writing anything about him because her love for him was too great to boil down into words. However, he left behind many journals and when reading through them she found lines that inspired her to piece together poems. She read four of those poems to the crowd and as an extra gift, and revealed that this was the first time these poems had been read aloud.

After reading her own poetry and selections from her latest book, she opened up the floor to the audience for questions. After the event wrapped up, she signed copies of her books and thanked everyone who showed up numerous times, expressing genuine surprise at how many people attended. Her wisdom shows through in her writing but even more so in her presence. We could all benefit by being a little bit more like Naomi Shihab Nye.

The event was a resounding success for the Visiting Writers Series at St. Edward's University. You can check out their upcoming events at their website.