Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series: Naomi Shihab Nye

The Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series was founded in 1988 by Rev. Arthur Schoenfeldt, C.S.C., of the University’s Holy Cross community, and his sister, University regent Suzanne Schoenfeldt Fields, in honor of their late parents. The series was permanently endowed by Suzanne Schoenfeldt Fields and her husband Fred Fields with a gift to the University’s Defining Moment Campaign. Twice each year (usually in February and October), Schoenfeldt guest writers offer a public reading and also visit students and faculty during their time on The Bluff, especially those in literature, science, and journalism classes.

Originally focused on fine writing in and of the American West, the Schoenfeldt Distinguished Visiting Writers Series is designed to honor and celebrate the best of American literature by bringing some of the finest writers in the United States to campus.

NEXT EVENT:

Naomi Shihab Nye on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 7:00 p.m. Book signing to follow.

This event will be held in Buckley Center Auditorium. Free and open to all.

UP’s Fall 2022 Schoenfeldt Speaker will be Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye, who joins our campus Tues. Sept. 13, 2022.

A self-described “wandering poet,” she’s lived and worked in San Antonio, TX, while spending the past 40 years traveling the country and world to lead writing workshops and inspire people of all ages with her poetry. Across over 30 volumes, her poetry explores the Middle East, gratitude and hope, mindfulness, immigration, what we consume, and what we throw away. Among many honors, she has received a Lavan Award, Isabella Gardner Poetry Award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, four Pushcart Prizes, the Robert Creeley Prize, and numerous awards for her children’s literature. She has been a Lannan, Guggenheim, and Witter Bynner Fellow, a finalist for the National Book Award (for 19 Varieties of Gazelle), Young People’s Poet Laureate (2019-2021), editor for New York Times Magazine poems (2019-20), earned the 2020 Ivan Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement by the National Book Critics Circle, and in 2021 was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Nye is a creative writing professor at Texas State University, and is dedicated to having people see poetry everywhere.

This event will take place in Buckley Center Auditorium at 7:00 pm, and is free and open to all. For additional details, please contact Lars Larson.

COVID-19 Precautions

• In-person attendees must present proof of COVID-19 vaccination at the door.
• If unable to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, fans must show documentation of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of the event to attend.
• Masks are required in indoor spaces regardless of vaccination status, subject to limited exceptions. Read University of Portland’s full mask policy here.