Thursday, April 25, 8:30-10am
Location: Blake campus, Dining Commons

Blake welcomed visiting Philip Otis Environmental Author Aimee Nezhukumatathil to campus in April. The author of the New York Times best-selling illustrated collection of nature essays, "World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, & Other Astonishments," which was chosen as Barnes and Noble’s Book of the Year and named a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. She also wrote four previous poetry collections: "Oceanic," "Lucky Fish," "At the Drive-in Volcano" and "Miracle Fruit." Her most recent chapbook is "Lace & Pyrite," a collaboration of epistolary garden poems with the poet Ross Gay. Her writing appears twice in the Best American Poetry Series, The New York Times Magazine, ESPN, Ploughshares, American Poetry Review, and Tin House.

Nezhukumatathil's honors include a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pushcart Prize, a Mississippi Arts Council grant, and being named a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. In 2021, she became the first-ever poetry editor for Sierra magazine, the story-telling arm of The Sierra Club. She is professor of English and creative writing in the University of Mississippi’s MFA program.

During her presentation, "From Neutrons to Notebooks: A Nature Writer's Origin Story," Nezhukumatathil discussed encouraging student curiosity and connection with the outdoors.