Nu-Way traces the evolution of a writer from a three-year-old sitting on the counter of her daddy’s dry cleaner's to a fully developed poet. George Ella Lyon journeys from her role as the keeper of family stories to the teller of her own. This is a book of becoming, of claiming a self.

Growing up in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, near all four of her grandparents, Lyon was schooled in secrets and learned, of necessity, to keep her own. In Nu-Way, her sixth collection, she takes up both sides of the family tapestry: the scenes intentionally stitched and the tangle on the other side. This is not a process of power, but of inner transformation, of coming to terms with herself as well as the people who made her. It holds the tension of opposites—the individual and the collective—without sacrificing either. Highly sharable, Nu-Way will appeal to readers who often feel shut out of poetry.

Widely known as the author of “Where I’m From,” George Ella Lyon has deep roots in eastern Kentucky. She has published five poetry collections, a memoir, and a novel for adults, as well as five novels and thirty-two picture books for young readers. Lyon’s work has received many honors, including the Appalachian Book of the Year, the Lee Smith Award, the American Library Association’s Schneider Family Book Award, and the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Teens. Back to the Light was a finalist for the Weatherford Award. She served as Kentucky poet laureate (2015–16) and has been inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.