New York Times bestselling author Aimee Nezhukumatathil will be the featured presenter at BCC’s free Visiting Writers series 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, in the SLC.
Nezhukumatathil will read from her poetry and essays and take questions from the audience.
Born to a Filipino mother and Malayali Indian father, Nezhukumatathil is the author of four books of poetry and two collections of essays: “World of Wonders,” a Barnes and Nobles 2022 Book of the Year, and “Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees,” a Barnes and Noble Best Book of 2024.
In her work, Nezhukumatathil explores topics such as food and drinks, and its connection to feelings “Tinged with joy, shame, exuberance, grief, desire, or nostalgia.”
According to event organizers, one of Nezhukumatathil’s specialties is her ability to appeal to human emotions and explore new avenues with the reader, opening the door to new concepts of feelings.
Nezhukumatathil was the first female football mascot of Beaver Creek High School in Ohio. Several years later, when she told her parents she was going to switch her college major from pre-med to English, she would hear them talk at night about how allowing her to be mascot was one of the reasons she diverged from the path many of her ancestors had followed.
“I felt I was letting the whole 400 years of Nezhukumatathils who were in the sciences down,” Nezhukumatathil has said.
“A poet’s job is to take note of the things that do not stand out… What you can do as a writer is push back against the fast-paced world we live in and take the time to slow down, get lost on the page and travel the world from the couch,” Nezhukumatathil said, according to a prepared news release.
