Nikki Grimes
@poetnikki.bsky.social
Poet, novelist, general word-nerd, gardener, photographer, foodie, film lover. My favorite people on the planet are children, which is why I write for them. Oh! And I'm a freak for roses, watercolor, and collage. Author of Ordinary Hazards, a memoir.
Pinned
Nikki Grimes
@poetnikki.bsky.social
· Nov 13
So glad to be here! Let's start with this:
Laughter loosens the logjam.
Little by little,
words temporarily halted
by despair
once again
begin to flow.
Can the rapids
be far behind?
Copyright 2024 by Nikki Grimes.
Laughter loosens the logjam.
Little by little,
words temporarily halted
by despair
once again
begin to flow.
Can the rapids
be far behind?
Copyright 2024 by Nikki Grimes.
Can you guess what’s on my docket today? Card making! What’s on yours?
November 28, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Can you guess what’s on my docket today? Card making! What’s on yours?
For those who travel near or far, here's a heart-tip: leave a generous tip for the person who cleans your hotel room. I guarantee you, they can use it, and chances are those of us who are blessed to afford to travel have reason to be thankful, and to show it. Happy Thanksgiving, and journey mercies!
November 26, 2025 at 3:44 PM
For those who travel near or far, here's a heart-tip: leave a generous tip for the person who cleans your hotel room. I guarantee you, they can use it, and chances are those of us who are blessed to afford to travel have reason to be thankful, and to show it. Happy Thanksgiving, and journey mercies!
Meeting Kate Bowler back in 2024 felt like reuniting with an old friend. We connected instantly! We've stayed touch, since then, and she invited me to join her for an episode of Everything Happens. It took awhile to align our schedules, but here is! Enjoy.
open.spotify.com/episode/3dx1...
open.spotify.com/episode/3dx1...
Nikki Grimes on Complicated Childhoods, Forgiveness, and Extraordinary Grace
open.spotify.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Meeting Kate Bowler back in 2024 felt like reuniting with an old friend. We connected instantly! We've stayed touch, since then, and she invited me to join her for an episode of Everything Happens. It took awhile to align our schedules, but here is! Enjoy.
open.spotify.com/episode/3dx1...
open.spotify.com/episode/3dx1...
In the category of things that give me joy: CBC's Carl Lennertz delivered a signed copy of Legacy to Dr. Carla Hayden! I love the photo he shared of her receiving it. Her smile is everything!
November 25, 2025 at 5:13 PM
In the category of things that give me joy: CBC's Carl Lennertz delivered a signed copy of Legacy to Dr. Carla Hayden! I love the photo he shared of her receiving it. Her smile is everything!
What are you waiting for? Get yourself to The Quilt Museum in Denver to see these quilts by Linda Anderson in their entirety!
November 24, 2025 at 6:09 AM
What are you waiting for? Get yourself to The Quilt Museum in Denver to see these quilts by Linda Anderson in their entirety!
More quilt details. Even after seeing them up close, I have a hard time calling them quilts! Wait until you these quilts and their entirety! Incredible pieces, every one.
November 24, 2025 at 6:05 AM
More quilt details. Even after seeing them up close, I have a hard time calling them quilts! Wait until you these quilts and their entirety! Incredible pieces, every one.
A visit to The Quilt Museum in Denver took my breath away. The impact is impossible to capture. I'll share a few detailed passages so you'll get the gist. Live in Denver? You'd be wise to check out this special exhibit before it's gone. The artist is Linda Anderson. And remember, these are quilts!
November 24, 2025 at 6:01 AM
A visit to The Quilt Museum in Denver took my breath away. The impact is impossible to capture. I'll share a few detailed passages so you'll get the gist. Live in Denver? You'd be wise to check out this special exhibit before it's gone. The artist is Linda Anderson. And remember, these are quilts!
Co-author Stacy Wells surprised me. Quite the hustler, she carried an advanced copy of our picture book, Stronger Than, throughout NCTE, coaxing folks, me included, to pose with her holding a copy of the book! (She even strong-armed passengers into reading it on her flight to Denver!) Go, Stacy!
November 24, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Co-author Stacy Wells surprised me. Quite the hustler, she carried an advanced copy of our picture book, Stronger Than, throughout NCTE, coaxing folks, me included, to pose with her holding a copy of the book! (She even strong-armed passengers into reading it on her flight to Denver!) Go, Stacy!
Back from NCTE and equal parts exhausted and giddy! The conference was amazing, and so was my visit with good friends who live in Denver. Too much to share in one post, so I'll just leave a few favorite pics, for now.
November 24, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Back from NCTE and equal parts exhausted and giddy! The conference was amazing, and so was my visit with good friends who live in Denver. Too much to share in one post, so I'll just leave a few favorite pics, for now.
I was jazzed to learn, from Kelly Starling Lyons, that at least one of my books is featured in the Planet Word Museum in Washington D.C.! How cool is that? So glad they had Kelly headline an event there, reading several of her books. I hope to visit that museum, someday. I recommend it often!
November 15, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I was jazzed to learn, from Kelly Starling Lyons, that at least one of my books is featured in the Planet Word Museum in Washington D.C.! How cool is that? So glad they had Kelly headline an event there, reading several of her books. I hope to visit that museum, someday. I recommend it often!
There is nothing quite as joyous as receiving an advanced copy of your book!
November 14, 2025 at 3:25 AM
There is nothing quite as joyous as receiving an advanced copy of your book!
I loved signing copies of this favorite book at the recent Rochester Children's Book Festival. The best part? I finally saw pics of Elizabeth Zunon's son who looks EXACTLY like this child—yet he wasn't even born when she did these illustrations! It's a wonderful, mystical mystery, and I love those.
November 13, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I loved signing copies of this favorite book at the recent Rochester Children's Book Festival. The best part? I finally saw pics of Elizabeth Zunon's son who looks EXACTLY like this child—yet he wasn't even born when she did these illustrations! It's a wonderful, mystical mystery, and I love those.
My dentist hasn't spoken profanity in my presence for years. Today, he had to go and spoil his record with the words "time for a new bridge." The gaul! There should be a law!
November 12, 2025 at 11:06 PM
My dentist hasn't spoken profanity in my presence for years. Today, he had to go and spoil his record with the words "time for a new bridge." The gaul! There should be a law!
My week is getting off to a good start! Learned I've been selected to receive a new honor for my work (and no, I can't tell you which one, yet!). Next, I was booked for a favorite podcast! (More to come.) So, not bad for two days! Takes the sting out of my recent flight debacle. Thank you, Lord!
November 11, 2025 at 5:33 PM
My week is getting off to a good start! Learned I've been selected to receive a new honor for my work (and no, I can't tell you which one, yet!). Next, I was booked for a favorite podcast! (More to come.) So, not bad for two days! Takes the sting out of my recent flight debacle. Thank you, Lord!
Oh, joy! Back from RCBF. Flight was delayed forever. Then before boarding, learned we'd be landing at an alternate destination, miles from the original! Got home 1:30am safe & sound thank God. NCTE is next. Like Paris, from The Road to Paris, I'm keeping God in my pocket, just in case! Pray for me.
November 10, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Oh, joy! Back from RCBF. Flight was delayed forever. Then before boarding, learned we'd be landing at an alternate destination, miles from the original! Got home 1:30am safe & sound thank God. NCTE is next. Like Paris, from The Road to Paris, I'm keeping God in my pocket, just in case! Pray for me.
Updated schedule and graphic! Just to keep life interesting.
November 6, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Updated schedule and graphic! Just to keep life interesting.
Dreaming of going to Highlights "Someday?" Apply for a scholarship. You 100% won't get one if you don't apply. Either way, who better to invest in than yourself? Dominique Okonkwo won a Nikki Grimes Scholarship. Looking forward to reading her first novel. But, you can just keep waiting. Or not.
November 5, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Dreaming of going to Highlights "Someday?" Apply for a scholarship. You 100% won't get one if you don't apply. Either way, who better to invest in than yourself? Dominique Okonkwo won a Nikki Grimes Scholarship. Looking forward to reading her first novel. But, you can just keep waiting. Or not.
Never more important than now!
November 3, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Never more important than now!
If my daughter wasn't already in heaven, she'd be fifty-five. All of us have experienced more loss than most know. Be gentle with one another. There will come a day when you need someone to be gentle with you.
October 30, 2025 at 3:24 PM
If my daughter wasn't already in heaven, she'd be fifty-five. All of us have experienced more loss than most know. Be gentle with one another. There will come a day when you need someone to be gentle with you.
Tackled a fun project this morning. After reading the poems in my last batch of fan mail, I combined my favorite lines into a series I called them Puzzle Poems. I used lines from the teacher's poem to open & close the series! Hope the students enjoy seeing their words used in a new way. It was fun!
October 28, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Tackled a fun project this morning. After reading the poems in my last batch of fan mail, I combined my favorite lines into a series I called them Puzzle Poems. I used lines from the teacher's poem to open & close the series! Hope the students enjoy seeing their words used in a new way. It was fun!
New Year's Eve
champagne flutes
still sticky with hope
of sanity's return,
how can we be
barreling toward
November???
Copyright 2025 by Nikki Grimes.
champagne flutes
still sticky with hope
of sanity's return,
how can we be
barreling toward
November???
Copyright 2025 by Nikki Grimes.
October 28, 2025 at 3:48 PM
New Year's Eve
champagne flutes
still sticky with hope
of sanity's return,
how can we be
barreling toward
November???
Copyright 2025 by Nikki Grimes.
champagne flutes
still sticky with hope
of sanity's return,
how can we be
barreling toward
November???
Copyright 2025 by Nikki Grimes.
Read through poems by a 10th grade class, circled favorite lines–from kids who don't usually write poetry: "Hope is a compass made of fire/ pointing through fog; Time..hard for me to make sure it doesn't flee/ like a criminal; Desires are the fires/ that ignite purpose." Wow. The young give me hope!
October 28, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Read through poems by a 10th grade class, circled favorite lines–from kids who don't usually write poetry: "Hope is a compass made of fire/ pointing through fog; Time..hard for me to make sure it doesn't flee/ like a criminal; Desires are the fires/ that ignite purpose." Wow. The young give me hope!
BCCB! Dante is brave but...nighttime brings bad dreams...His mom...brings out portraits of Dante's Choctaw ancestor who survived the Trail of Tears & his Black ancestor who survived the Tulsa Race Massacre. "I must be stronger than a nightmare too." There is...beauty here..joyful cultural elements.
October 26, 2025 at 5:22 PM
BCCB! Dante is brave but...nighttime brings bad dreams...His mom...brings out portraits of Dante's Choctaw ancestor who survived the Trail of Tears & his Black ancestor who survived the Tulsa Race Massacre. "I must be stronger than a nightmare too." There is...beauty here..joyful cultural elements.
Home again
I kicked off my shoes
fell back on the sofa
to catch my breath
not knowing the gift of it...
The knot in my gut
a remnant of
the Middle Passage...
...the white knee
on the Black neck
for nine long minutes
the nonchalance
of a murder
in plain sight...
—from "But, Then"
by Nikki Grimes.
I kicked off my shoes
fell back on the sofa
to catch my breath
not knowing the gift of it...
The knot in my gut
a remnant of
the Middle Passage...
...the white knee
on the Black neck
for nine long minutes
the nonchalance
of a murder
in plain sight...
—from "But, Then"
by Nikki Grimes.
October 26, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Home again
I kicked off my shoes
fell back on the sofa
to catch my breath
not knowing the gift of it...
The knot in my gut
a remnant of
the Middle Passage...
...the white knee
on the Black neck
for nine long minutes
the nonchalance
of a murder
in plain sight...
—from "But, Then"
by Nikki Grimes.
I kicked off my shoes
fell back on the sofa
to catch my breath
not knowing the gift of it...
The knot in my gut
a remnant of
the Middle Passage...
...the white knee
on the Black neck
for nine long minutes
the nonchalance
of a murder
in plain sight...
—from "But, Then"
by Nikki Grimes.
PW...."After yet another nightmare...his mother tells him about ancestors who were "stronger than" the history they endured:The Trail of Tears and the Tulsa Race Massacre...Dante finds his way toward...the understanding that "we come from people stronger than fear" in this thoughtful picture book.
October 24, 2025 at 11:43 PM
PW...."After yet another nightmare...his mother tells him about ancestors who were "stronger than" the history they endured:The Trail of Tears and the Tulsa Race Massacre...Dante finds his way toward...the understanding that "we come from people stronger than fear" in this thoughtful picture book.