Naomi Shihab Nye & Kim Stafford: A Reading and Conversation

Saturday, June 20, 2026
Sanctuary Hall at First Congregational UCC | 1126 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR
6:30-8:00pm (Book signing to follow)
ASL Interpreters provided

Join two beloved voices in American poetry for an evening of reading and conversation rooted in legacy, humanity, and the power of language.

Naomi Shihab Nye, one of the most adored poets of our generation, returns to Portland for a public reading. Drawing from her prolific body of work, she will share poems shaped by compassion, curiosity, and a deep regard for the everyday lives and the human condition that brings us together.

She is joined by Past Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford, poet, teacher, and literary steward of his father William Stafford’s legacy. Kim will read from his own work, and together Naomi and Kim will enter into conversation about poetry as daily practice, influence, and how creativity can support us in uncertain times.

This special evening is presented by The Stafford Challenge and Wild Poet Events in partnership with Oregon Humanities and Lewis & Clark College. It is a part of The Stafford Challenge Conference: Click here for more info. 

Books will be for sale, and a book signing with both poets will follow the program.

Meet the Poets

Naomi Shihab Nye

Palestinian-American writer, editor and educator Naomi Shihab Nye grew up in St. Louis, Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas, where she graduated from Trinity University and continues to live. She has been Young People’s Poet Laureate for the U.S. (Poetry Foundation), poetry editor for the New York Times magazine, and The Texas Observer, and a visiting writer in hundreds of schools and communities all over the world. She received Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Texas Institute of Letters and the National Book Critics Circle.

Kim Stafford

Kim Stafford writes, teaches, and travels to restore the human spirit. He is the author of twenty books, including As the Sky Begins to Change (Red Hen Press, 2024), and his poem A Proclamation for Peace has been translated in over 50 languages and published as a remarkable book by the same name. He was Oregon Poet Laureate in 2018-2020.