Photo Caption: Award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil will visit WKCTC on March 4 and 5. Her visit is the finale to the college’s 2023-2024 One Book Read.

Paducah, KY (02/26/2024) — Award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil will visit West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC), March 4 and 5, as the finale to the college's 2023-2024 One Book Read of her book World of Wonders.

"We are thrilled to welcome Aimee to the college to share her book and insight with us," said Amy Sullivan, director of library services at WKCTC's Matheson Library and One Book Read Committee Events chair. "Having authors like Aimee visit campus to engage WKCTC students, including local high school dual credit students, as well as faculty, staff and the community is the perfect culmination of the One Book Read."

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments is Nezhukumatathil's first nonfiction book. It is an illustrated collection of short essays that observe and celebrate the natural world with vivid details of amazing creatures and landscapes. The book also tells compelling stories of the author's unusual life, from growing up on the grounds of mental institutions in rural America, where her Filipina mother was a doctor, to coping with racism and frequent moves with her family. Nezhukumatathil's life experiences shaped her roles as a wife, mother and school teacher. Beautiful illustrations by Fumi Nakamura further enhance the book.

Author Kiese Laymon says the collection is "the first book to make me feel like a firefly as much as it reminds me I'm still a black boy playing in Central Mississippi woods. The book walks. It sprints. It leaps. Most importantly, the book lingers in a world where power, people, and the literal outside wrestle painfully, beautifully. This book is a world of wonders. This book is about to shake the Earth."

Nezhukumatathil's World of Wonders was named a finalist for the Kirkus Prize in nonfiction, and she is the author of four award-winning poetry collections, most recently, Oceanic. Other awards for her writing include fellowships from the Mississippi Arts Council, Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Poetry, National Endowment of the Arts, and Guggenheim Foundation. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN, and Best American Poetry. She is an English and Creative Writing professor in the University of Mississippi's MFA program.

Sullivan said guests do not have to have read World of Wonders to enjoy the author's presentations on March 4 or 5. "Aimee's remarkable storytelling and the beautiful illustrations are incredibly relatable. We invite everyone to come and enjoy the events." Sullivan said copies of World of Wonders will be available for purchase during the events. Cash and credit cards only.

During her visit to WKCTC, Nezhukumatathil will read from World of Wonders, sign books and be available for question-and-answer sessions during a student-centered presentation on March 4 at 11 a.m. in the college's Student Center. On March 5, a reception with light refreshments will be held for the community in WKCTC's Crounse Hall lobby at 5 p.m., followed by an author presentation, Q&A and book signing in Crounse Hall, Room 101, beginning at 6 p.m. The reception and presentation will be on the first floor of Crounse Hall. RSVP to julie.moore@kctcs.edu if you are planning to attend the reception. All events are free and open to the public.

World of Wonders is available for checkout at WKCTC's Matheson Library and the McCracken County Public Library in audio, eBook, and print formats.

For more information and to learn more about WKCTC's One Book Read, visit onebookread.com.