Mississippi Poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil Branches Out

Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the New York Times best-selling illustrated collection of nature essays and Kirkus Prize finalist, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, & Other Astonishments (2020). She has four previous poetry collections: Oceanic, Lucky Fish, At The Drive-In Volcano, and Miracle Fruit, and collaborated with poet Ross Gay on the chapbook Lace & Pyrite, a collection of garden poems. Her honors include the Pushcart Prize, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Mississippi Institute for Arts and Letters Award in poetry.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Nezhukumatathil’s work draws upon her Filipina and south Indian heritage. Her writing has appeared twice in the Best American Poetry Series and in The New York Times Magazine, Ploughshares, American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. She is poetry editor of Sierra magazine and teaches environmental literature and poetry writing at the University of Mississippi. During the pandemic, her adoration of axolotls and roller-skating has manifested ten-fold. She lives with her husband and sons in Oxford, Mississippi.

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Poetry & Planet is produced by Ethan Goffman.  H.D.’s “All Mountains” and Claude McKay’s “The Snow Fairy” are read by R. Michael Oliver.  Musical excerpts from “Elements of Life” and “Earth Revisited” are written and performed by Reginald Cyntje, with vocals by Christie Dashiell.  Aural interludes are by Douglas Harvey.

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