BOUND TO HAPPEN
San Antonio poet books prestigious Texas literary award
Naomi Shihab Nye is this year's recipient of the Texas Writers Award.
Naomi Shihab Nye has built an enviable curriculum vitae throughout her literary career. She served as the Young People’s Poet Laureate for the U.S. Poetry Foundation and the poetry editor for The New York Times Magazine and the Texas Observer, before inspiring a new generation of voices as a writer-in-residence at Texas State University. Her work garnered lifetime achievement awards from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Arab American Museum, and the National Book Critics Circle.
The Palestinian-American poet and educator can now add another honor to the list. On October 1, the Texas Book Festival (TBF) named her the 2024 Texas Writer Award recipient. The prize, formerly the Bookend Award, recognizes writers who have profoundly impacted Texas literature.
“Naomi Shihab Nye is not only a profoundly gifted and accomplished writer, but also a dedicated educator and cherished figure in the Texas literary community,” said TBF Literary Director Hannah Gabel via a release. “We’re thrilled to celebrate her remarkable body of work.”
Nye, a resident of San Antonio, is known for a genre-hopping bibliography that includes poetry, fiction, and children’s literature. Her best-known works include Everything Comes Next, The Tiny Journalist, Voices in the Air, Sitti’s Secrets, and Habibi. A native of Jerusalem who moved to Texas in 1967, Nye has frequently returned to her identity in her work.
As part of the Texas Writer Award, TBF will bestow Nye with an aptly Texas gift: a pair of custom handmade boots from El Paso’s Rocketbuster. Attendees will also get a chance to congratulate her first-hand during festival sessions for her two 2024 releases: an editorial work, I Know About a Thousand Things: The Writings of Ann Alejandro of Uvalde, Texas, and poetry collection Grace Notes.
This year’s festival takes place November 16-17, with signings, readings, and panels in and around the State Capitol. Admission is free, save for two ticketed appearances from headliners Matthew McConaughey and Malcolm Gladwell.
