"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."
-- William Stafford
The Cultures of
Naomi Shihab Nye
Jessie Smith and Kristen Orchard
Background Information
• • • • • • • Born March 12, 1952 in St. Louis, MO (but well traveled) Parents from different cultural backrounds Married 1978, one son B.A. from Trinity University Also a singer and a teacher of a poetry workshop Published first poem at age seven selected by Texas Monthly as one of the "20 most impressive, intriguing and influential Texans” • First collection was "Different Ways to Pray"
Awards/Honors:
Award from Texas Institute of Letters, the Carity Randall Prize, Jane Addams Children's Book award, and the Paterson Poetry Prize, the International Poetry Forum, four Pushcart Prizes, Academy of American Poets' Lavan Award, Voertman Poetry Prize, a Lannan Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Wittner Bynner Fellowship.
Common Themes
Culture Diversity Racism
Family
Ancestry
Style Commonalities
• • • • Symbolism Metaphors Hidden in depth meaning in ordinary obj. Personifications
• NO rhyming
Influences
• Cultural background
– Mother was American – Father was Palestinian – Mexican American peers/neighbors
•Grandmother
“My Grandmother in the Stars”
•Weaken the idea that all Arabs are terrorists through poems
“Voices” By Naomi Nye
The Critics Say
• “brings attension to the female as a humorous, wry creature with brisk, hard intelligence and a sense of personal freedom unheard of” – Contributor of Contemporary Poets
• Nineteen Variations of Gazelle “will spark discussion and bring readers up close” (to what war and vengence really mean) – Hazel Rochman
• “playfully and imaginatively instructive” – Contributor to Contemporary
Southern Writers
• “ability to draw clear parallels between the ordinary and sublime” –
Jane L. Tanner
The Critics Say cont.
• Hugging the Jukebox “warmth and celebratory tone” – Various reviewers
• “the fabric is thin and the mundaneness of the action shows through” – Mary Logue • “seems to be in good, easy relation with earth and its peoples”
–David Kirby
• range from “playful to pensive” -- Shelle Rosenfeld
• “international in scope and internal in focus” – Jane L. Tanner
We Agree…
1)
2)
3)
4) 5) 6)
1) Celebrates differences in genders (I Feel a Little Jumpy around You ) female “brings attension to the female characters- strong, independent, as a humorous, wry creature personality, My Friends Divorce with brisk, hard intelligence 2) Ordinary objects, people, events more and a sense of personal complicate, deeper meaning, The Attic freedom unheard of” and its Nails “ability to draw clear parallels 3) Poems with no deeper meaning, simple between the ordinary and to poems addressing complicated moral sublime” and political issues .range from “playful to 4) Many cultures, about many types of pensive” people but all very personal “international in scope and 5) Enlighten and inform readers about internal in focus” racial and cultural issues w/o hateful or “playfully and imaginatively forceful tone instructive” 6) This poem is as well as others, none .Hugging the Jukebox “warmth angry or hateful tone, seems to be and celebratory tone” celebrating life even with its imperfection
We Disagree…
1) “will spark discussion and bring readers up close” (to what war and vengence really mean) “the fabric is thin and the mundaneness of the action shows through” “seems to be in good, easy relation with earth and its peoples”
1) Not her purpose- wanted to cause subtle awareness, people silently agree w/ her, a call for peace 2) The ordinariness and lack of action in some of her poems are effective, readers can relate 3) Means she is in good relations with society, in some poems points out things she doesn’t like in society
2)
3)
Words of the Poet…
“For me the primary source of poetry has always been local life, random characters met on the street, our own ancestry sifting down to us through small essential daily tasks”
"Whenever someone suggests 'how much is lost in translation!' I want to say, 'Perhaps--but how much is gained!'"
List of Works Cited
• • • • • • • "Article 1 Naomi Shihab Nye." Infotrac. 15 Apr. 2007. Thomson Gale. 22 Apr. 2007 . McQuien, Paul, and Kim G. Hochmeister. "Naomi Shihab Nye." Literary San Antonio. 2006. 12 Apr. 2007 . "Naomi Shihab Nye." Poets. 2007. The Academy of American Poets. 16 Apr. 2007 . Nye, Naomi S. 19 Varieties of Gazelle. 1st ed. Greenwillow Brooks, 2002. Nye, Naomi S. Fuel. Rochester, New York: Boa Editions, Ltd., 1998. Nye, Naomi S. Red Suitcase. Brockport, New York: BOA Editions, Ltd., 1994. "Transcript: Naomi Shihab Nye: a Bill Moyers Interview." PBS. 2007. Public Broadcasting Service. 17 Apr. 2007 .