Did you miss Aimee's talk? You can watch the recording on our YouTube page until October 30, 2025. 

Join us on Saturday, September 27, for a special visit from our NEA Big Read author, Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Aimee's book of lyrical essays, Bite by Bite, is Santa Clara's Big Read for 2025-2026, and we are proud to kick off our NEA Big Read programming with a visit from Aimee herself! The first 50 attendees will receive a free copy of Bite by Bite, and Aimee will be available after the author talk and Q&A session to sign books and talk with readers.

Seating is first come, first served. Doors will open at 10:45 a.m. You may register on Eventbrite to receive event reminders (optional).

Interested in discussing this book with other community members? Join one of our book-club style discussions! No registration required.

• Central Park Library: Monday, September 22, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
• Mission Branch Library: Saturday, October 11, 2-3 p.m.
• Northside Branch Library: Thursday, October 30, 6-6:45 p.m.

About the author: Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the book of food essays Bite By Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees and the New York Times best-selling 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 poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pushcart Prize, a Mississippi Arts Council grant, NAAEE’s 2024 Pepe Marcos-Iga Award for Innovation in Environmental Education, and being named a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. 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.

About the NEA Big Read: The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read—a partnership with Arts Midwest—broadens our understanding of ourselves and our neighbors through the power of a shared reading experience. The goals of the NEA Big Read are to inspire meaningful conversations, celebrate local creativity, elevate a wide variety of voices and perspectives, and build stronger connections in each community.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. Special thanks to The Santa Clara City Library Foundation and Friends for facilitating this grant.

Your attendance at this program grants permission to the City of Santa Clara to take your photograph and/or your child's photograph for marketing purposes.