Naomi Shihab Nye to Speak at WWU on Saturday, April 28

The 49th annual May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture is to be delivered by author and poet Naomi Shihab Nye, and will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, at the Western Washington University Performing Arts Center. A reception will follow in the Performing Arts Center Foyer.

The lecture is FREE and open to the public, but registration is requested. Click here to register

In poetry and prose for children, teens, and adults, Naomi Shihab Nye explores themes of identity and belonging, building literary bridges of empathy across which strangers can meet and connect. The daughter of a Palestinian father and an American mother, Nye grew up in St. Louis, Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas.  Her experience of different cultures has influenced much of her work, and she is often described as having a talent for writing about everyday life while also addressing cultural issues. She has written and edited more than 30 books for adults and children, and her latest for young people, “The Turtle of Oman,” was chosen as a 2015 Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association (ALA). Amongst her many honors, she has also received four Pushcart Prizes, was a National Book Award finalist, and has been named a Guggenheim Fellow. 

Sylvia Tag, curator of the Children's Literature Interdisciplinary Collection at Western Libraries, noted: “Naomi Shihab Nye spreads hope and light through her poetry and prose. Western Washington University and the Whatcom County Library System are honored to host the Arbuthnot Honor Lecture, and invite her particular brilliance to illuminate our diverse and word-hungry communities.”

The May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture celebrates May Hill Arbuthnot, who served as a strong voice for children’s literature. Each year a lecturer is chosen who will prepare a paper considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature. This paper is delivered as a lecture each spring, and is subsequently published through Children & Libraries, the journal of Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). The Arbuthnot Lecture, considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature, is administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, a Division of the American Library Association.

For more information about this event, please contact Sylvia.Tag@wwu.edu