Aimee Nezhukumatathil
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Poetry

Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Past Event: Monday, May 21, 2018

At McCaw Hall — Nesholm Family Lecture Hall

Essay Sponsor: Copper Canyon Press

This series is sponsored by Charles B. & Barbara Wright

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Tickets for this event will be sold at the door. The box office will open at 6:00PM at the Nesholm Family Recital Hall. The doors to the hall will open at 6:30 PM and the event will start at 7:30PM.

Born to a Filipino mother and Malayali Indian father, Aimee Nezhukumatathil is known for poems that braid three cultures – Filipino, Indian, and American – and that are bright, accessible, and lush. This reading will be followed by a Q&A moderated by poet Jane Wong

 

Poet Naomi Shiab Nye writes, “Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s poems are as ripe, funny and fresh as a precious friendship. They’re the fullness of days, deliciously woven of heart and verve, rich with sources and elements—animals, insects, sugar, cardamom, legends, countries, relatives, soaps, fruits—taste and touch. I love the nubby layerings of lines, luscious textures and constructions. Aimee writes with a deep resonance of spirit and sight. She’s scared of nothing. She knows that many worlds may live in one house. Poems like these revive our souls.”

Nezhukumatathil’s newest collection of poems, OCEANIC, is forthcoming with Copper Canyon Press in early 2018. She is also the author of the forthcoming book of illustrated nature essays, World of Wonder. She has written three previous poetry collections: Lucky Fish, winner of the 2011 Eric Hoffer Grand Prize; At the Drive-In Volcano, winner of the Balcones Poetry Prize; and Miracle Fruit, winner of the Global Filipino Award and the Tupelo Press Prize, selected by Gregory Orr. Her most recent chapbook is Lace & Pyrite, a collaboration of nature poems with the poet Ross Gay, released in 2014.

The poetry editor of Orion magazine, Nezhukumatathil’s poems have appeared in the Best American Poetry series, American Poetry Review, New England Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, and Tin House. Her honors include a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Pushcart Prize.

Aimee lives in Oxford, MS with her husband, the writer Dustin Parsons, and their two young sons. She is professor of English at the University of Mississippi where she teaches creative writing and environmental literature.

Selected Works:

Miracle Fruit (2003)
At the Drive-in Volcano (2007)
Lucky Fish (2011)
Lace & Pyrite (with Ross Gay, 2014)
OCEANIC (forthcoming 2018)

Jane Wong’s poems can be found in Best American Poetry 2015, American Poetry Review, Third Coastjubilat, Black Warrior Review, and others. A Kundiman fellow, she is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the U.S. Fulbright Program, the Fine Arts Work Center, Hedgebrook, and Bread Loaf. She is the author of the book Overpour (Action Books, 2016) and is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Western Washington University. In 2017, she received the James W. Ray Distinguished Artist award for Washington artists.

Event Details

McCaw Hall — Nesholm Family Lecture Hall

321 Mercer St
Seattle, WA 98109

View directions.

This event will be held in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall. The Lecture Hall is located in the lower level of Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. The entrance to the hall is on the north side of the building and east of the main entrance; it directly faces Mercer St. and the door is under the bridge to the Mercer Street Garage.

Transportation & Parking

By Car

  • From I-5
    Take Mercer Street exit (exit 167) and go straight onto Mercer Street westbound. Turn right onto 4th Avenue. Turn left to park in the Seattle Center Mercer Street Garage.
  • From Aurora/Hwy 99 Northbound
    Take the Western Avenue exit. Continue straight on Western Avenue. Turn right onto Battery Street. Turn left onto 1st Avenue. Turn right on Mercer Street. Continue down Mercer Street to drop off patrons directly in front of McCaw Hall, or turn left on 3rd or 4th Avenues to park in the Seattle Center Mercer Street Garage.
  • From Aurora/Hwy 99 Southbound
    Exit right on Roy Street. Turn left on 3rd Avenue North. Turn left to park in the Seattle Center Mercer Street Garage or proceed to the corner of 3rd Avenue and Mercer Street, turn left and proceed immediately to the far right lane to drop off patrons directly in front of McCaw Hall.

By Bus
Bus routes with Seattle Center stops include: 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24, 33, and 82. For more information about the routes nearest you, call Metro’s 24-hour Rider Information hotline at (206) 553-3000 or visit Metro online.

Parking
Parking is available at the Mercer Street Garage, conveniently located across the street from McCaw Hall. A covered skybridge provides easy access between level C of the garage and McCaw Hall.

Other garages and parking options are:

  • Fisher Plaza Garage, located in the KOMO Plaza on 4th Avenue N, between Broad St and John St. The entrance is at 451 John St. The quickest way to get to McCaw Hall from here is to walk across the Seattle Center campus, starting from the Space Needle. SAL offers a $5 voucher for this garage. Vouchers may be picked up at SAL’s box office or info table.
  • 5th Avenue North Garage, located at the corner of 5th Avenue and Harrison Street. This is the first garage you will encounter after exiting I-5 and turning onto Harrison Street. It is a 3-block walk to McCaw Hall from this garage.
  • Surface lots are available on either side of Mercer Street between 3rd and 1st Avenues.
  • Southwest Seattle Center garages, for those willing and able to make the short walk across the Seattle Center campus, there are garages located on 1st Avenue North between Thomas and John Streets (south of KeyArena), at the corner of Warren Avenue North and Denny Way (adjacent to the church), and on 2nd Avenue North and Denny Way (adjacent to Pacific Science Center).

Accessibility

All of our venues have accessible seating and listening devices available. Click here for more information about accessibility and ADA services at McCaw Hall.

Please contact us at sal@lectures.org or 206.621.2230 x10 for more details and to let us know you’re coming so we can better accommodate your needs.

Sponsors

Essay Sponsor
Copper Canyon Press
Poets & Writers
Opus Sponsor

Charles B. & Barbara Wright

Public program support provided by