Press Release

November 27, 2007

Award-winning Author to Conduct Writing Workshops Wednesday

Acclaimed poet, writer, anthropologist and educator Naomi Shihab Nye will conduct four writing workshops on Wednesday, November 28, for students at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, located at 2206 Prather Lane. Nye, who describes herself as a "wandering poet," has spent 33 years traveling the world leading 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 around the world, she uses her writing to attest to our shared humanity. Students at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders have recently completed her novel, Habibi, while studying the Middle East in World Cultures. Nye is the author and/or editor of more than 20 volumes. She has been a Lannan Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Witter Bynner Fellow (Library of Congress). She has received a Lavan Award from the Academy of American Poets, the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, four Pushcart Prizes, and two Jane Addams Children's Book Awards. Her collection 19 Varieties of Gazelle was a finalist for the National Book Award. She is a regular columnist for Organica and poetry editor for The Texas Observer.

Media who wish to observe Ms. Nye's sessions should make prior arrangements with Principal Jeanne Goka at 414-3236.