Aimee Nezhukumatathil speaks to student body.
By Jolie Zhang ’26
Colony Hall was filled with the sounds of bird calls last Tuesday morning from Professor Aimee Nezhukumatathil, the author of the New York Times best-selling book World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments. On November 7, she visited Choate to discuss this year’s summer reading, sharing insights and reflections from her book of nature essays.
World of Wonders reflects Ms. Nezhukumatathil’s deep fascination with the natural world. Inspired by her own experiences and observations, her essays reveal the magic in everyday creatures and natural phenomena, from the showy feathers of the superb bird of paradise to the axolotl’s timid smile. Her writing, informed by both her scientific curiosity and upbringing as an Asian American, celebrates diversity in nature and human culture and encourages readers to find wonder in the ordinary.
Her sharing began with a reading of “Potoo.” In the chapter, Ms. Nezhukumatahil described her connection to birds, reflecting on the stillness and tranquility she found in their presence. She shared stories of encounters with birds in her backyard and communicating with them through bird calls. As she read, she performed the “BUAAaa” potoo call and the “hurdy-gurdy” cardinal call.
Ms. Nezhukumatathil then read “Vampire Squid” and shared her experiences of feeling like an outsider in high school. She moved frequently and so, had to navigate the challenges of finding her place among her peers. She spoke about how her “cephalopod year,” when she spent a school year in solitude, helped her learn about understanding and connecting with others, a lesson she carries with her to this day as a teacher and writer.
After her sharing, Zainab Khokha ’24 and Danny Yoon ’24 took the lead in a question and answer session. “Having Prof. Nezhukumatathil on campus is such a wonderful opportunity to learn from her experience outside of what we get in her book or online,” Khokha said.
Speaking about how the book came about, she revealed that she considered writing nature essays for around 200 different plants and animals. Through passionate curation, she distilled her selection to 28 species that most piqued her interest and left her with countless unanswered questions. She wrote her early drafts for her sons, who were ages six and nine at the time. Later on, she revised the draft with her close friends in mind. For her upcoming editions, she has chosen not to update the scientific information cited in the book to capture her initial journey of writing through wonder and discovery.
“Her writing process resonated with me because I feel that the ideas worth talking about are the ones you don’t have answer to or ones you are curious about,” Khokha said. “It’s all about diving into the deep end and being vulnerable in your thought.”
After the all-school meeting, Ms. Nezhukamathil also met with Choate’s Advanced Creative Writing classes, where she answered questions from aspiring writers.
A member of the class, Victoria Layden ’24 shared, “Ms. Nezhukumatathil was vibrant and engaging. She oozes passion for nonfiction prose, and through hearing about her writing experience, I gained an entirely new perspective on World of Wonders. It was wonderful to hear about her discovery of poetry and her process as a writer.”
For Yoon, Ms. Nezhukumatathil’s visit was inspiring and eye-opening. “I was very impressed by her well-versedness and courage to make bird-chirping noises in front of the whole school,” he said. “I hope to be able to write like her one day.”
