Naomi Shihab Nye on Feb 4, 2025 | UCSB Arts & Lectures

“Naomi Shihab Nye has borne witness to the complexities of cultural difference that connect us as human beings, evidencing a firm commitment to the poet as bearer of light and hope.” – Afaa Michael Weaver, Chancellor, Academy of American Poets

Naomi Shihab Nye has spent more than 40 years traveling the country and the world as a self-described “wandering poet.” Born to a Palestinian father and an American mother, Nye grew up in St. Louis, Jerusalem and San Antonio. In October, Nye received the 2024 Wallace Stevens Award for lifetime achievement from the Academy of American Poets. “Her body of work is a rare and precious living entity in our time,” praised the Academy’s Chancellor, “when the tragic conflict between Gaza and Israel threatens to deepen wounds and resentments everywhere.”