Mike Walker of Coal Hill Review argues that while the subject matter of Naomi Shihab Nye’s Transfer is a common topic of discussion, Nye somehow manages to make her collection of poems the most intimate conversation in the room. In Transfer, Nye draws on her Palestinian-American heritage without ever getting swallowed up by the current state of politics, or even just our expectations of the Middle East as Americans. Walker explains that as Americans, we are fully aware of the Middle East and the questions at hand, “but too often we get the same images over and over again, and they fail to be inclusive of the great diversity of the region. Not here, though, not with Nye.” “Other Arab-American, Arab, and Islamic poets are of course presenting work concerned with the crucial intersections of faith, politics, culture and war, but what makes Nye very special and worthwhile in this book is her constant focus on her own experience and the personal journey she’s undertaken. Beyond the emphasis on the Middle East, she has a more personal focus on her own father and his journey to America.” Nye's focus in Transfer is reinforced with refreshing use of language, which Walker describes as “mordant, precise, yet like the very best of non-fiction, it makes itself personal in tenor without being explicit in persona.” To read the full review, click here. It’s good. I promise. And to pick up a copy of Nye’s Transfer, click here