The Whole Day as a Dance Floor

Literary artist Naomi Shihab Nye was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother, and grew up in St. Louis, Jerusalem, and San Antonio. Drawing on her ethnic heritage, the cultural diversity of her Texas home, and experiences traveling in Asia and the Middle East, Nye uses her writing to attest to our shared humanity. Her books include 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, Fuel (poems), Never in a Hurry (a collection of essays), and Habibi (a novel for young readers).

A Lannan Fellow, Nye was also a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Wittner Bynner Fellow. She has received a Lavan Award from the Academy of American Poets, four Pushcart Prizes, and numerous awards and citations for her children's literature including two Jane Addams Children's Book Awards.

She is a regular columnist for Organica and poetry editor for The Texas Observer. Her work has been presented on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac. She has also been featured on PBS's The Language of Life with Bill Moyers, The United States of Poetry, and NOW with Bill Moyers.

Nye lives in San Antonio with her husband, photographer Michael Nye, and their teenage son.

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