The Turtle of Oman

Naomi Shihab Nye is a well-established poet and author who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Palestinian father and an American mother. In high school, she lived in Palestine, Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas (“Naomi Shihab Nye.” The American Academy of Poets, 2024). Nye is known for crafting children’s literature that addresses sensitive issues and cultural awareness. For example, Sitti’s Secrets (1994) focuses on a child’s relationship with her grandmother—a topic that is also explored in the relationship between Aref and Sidi in The Turtle of Oman. Sitti’s Secrets has been praised for focusing on relationships between the people of Middle Eastern countries and people of the US. In 1997, Nye published Habibi, a young adult novel focused on the experiences of an American teenager in Palestine who must contend with the violent activities occurring in Jerusalem (“Naomi Shihab Nye”).

After the destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Nye became a vocal speaker on behalf of Arab Americans who were experiencing intensified prejudice as a result of the national and cultural identities of the perpetrators of the attacks. In 2002, she ultimately collected poems relating to the Middle East into one volume entitled 19 Varieties of Gazelle Poems of the Middle East, and it was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her next work, You and Yours (2005) also used poetry to explore Middle Eastern themes, and the title received the Isabel Gardner Poetry Award (“Naomi Shihab Nye”).

Throughout her career, Nye has made it a point to publish her work across international platforms, journals, and presses, often specifically highlighting the work of Middle Eastern and Arab American poets and artists. The story that she tells in The Turtle of Oman is focused on showing Omani lifestyles in order to improve Americans’ awareness of this particular country and culture. However, as with much of her work, this novel focuses on portraying her characters’ lives in a way that implicitly challenges the common stereotypes about the Middle East. For example, the story emphasizes that Aref competently speaks English and attends an international school with students from around the world. Nye brings her experience as an Arab American to this novel, building a world that would be familiar to Omani readers and introducing unfamiliar readers to Muscat through Aref’s eyes.