Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the book of food essays Bite By Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees and the New York Times bestselling illustrated collection of nature essays World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks & Other Astonishments. She also wrote five previous poetry collections including Night Owl and Oceanic. Her most recent chapbook is Lace & Pyrite, a collaboration of epistolary garden poems with the poet Ross Gay. Honors include a Guggenheim fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts poetry fellowship, the Pushcart Prize, a Mississippi Arts Council grant, and the North American Association for Environmental Education’s 2024 Pepe Marcos-Iga Award for Innovation in Environmental Education. For a decade, she served as the poetry editor for Orion and Sierra magazines. A professor of English and Creative Writing for over 25 years, she also serves as a firefly guide for Mississippi State Parks.

(Photo credit: Dustin Parsons)