About the Book
In recent years, our poetic landscape has evolved in profound and exciting ways. So has our planet. Edited and introduced by the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States, Ada Limón, this book challenges what we think we know about "nature poetry," illuminating the myriad ways our landscapes--both literal and literary-are changing. “You Are Here” features fifty previously unpublished poems from some of the nation's most accomplished poets, including Joy Harjo, Diane Seuss, Rigoberto González, Jericho Brown, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Paul Tran, and more. Each poem engages with its author's local landscape--be it the breathtaking variety of flora in a national park, or a lone tree flowering persistently by a bus stop-offering an intimate model of how we relate to the world around us and a beautifully diverse range of voices from across the United States. Joyful and provocative, wondrous and urgent, this singular collection of poems offers a lyrical reimagining of what "nature" and "poetry" are today, inviting listeners to experience both anew.

About Ada Limón:

Ada Limón is the author of six books of poetry, including “The Carrying,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her book “Bright Dead Things” was nominated for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Her most recent book of poetry, “The Hurting Kind,” was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize. She is also the author of two children’s books: “In Praise of Mystery,” with illustrations by Peter Sís; and “And, Too, The Fox,” which will be released in 2025. In October of 2023 she was awarded a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, and she was named a TIME magazine woman of the year in 2024. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and wrote a poem that was engraved on NASA's Europa Clipper Spacecraft. It was launched to the second moon of Jupiter in October 2024. As the 24th Poet Laureate of The United States, her signature project is called “You Are Here” and focuses on how poetry can help connect us to the natural world. She will serve as Poet Laureate until the spring of 2025.

About Seattle Reads: Seattle Reads is a city-wide book group, where people are encouraged to read and discuss the same book. It’s designed to deepen engagement in literature through reading and discussion.
Everyone is invited to participate in Seattle Reads by reading the featured book, joining in a book discussion, and/or attending programs with the featured writer. Seattle Reads “You Are Here” is presented in partnership with African-American Writers’ Alliance; Creative Aging at the Frye; Elliott Bay Books; Hugo House; KUOW Book Club; La Sala; the Memory Hub, UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center; Open Books: A Poem Emporium; Poetry Northwest; Pongo Poetry Project; 4Culture Poetry in Public; Seattle Arts & Lectures Youth Poetry Fellowship; Third Place Books.

It is made possible by The Seattle Public Library Foundation and The Wallace Foundation, with additional support from Milkweed Editions, KUOW-FM, and media sponsor The Seattle Times.

Seattle Reads presents Ada Limón