His work has been reviewed in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Guardian, the Times Literary Supplement (UK), translated into a dozen languages, and featured at the Jaipur International Literary Festival (India) and the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival (UK).
In human rights work, Nurkse was a founding member of Amnesty International USA Group 9 in 1973 and coordinated volunteer campaigns on repression and antisemitism in Argentina.
He was the author of At Special Risk: The Impact of Political Violence on Minors in Haiti (Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, 1992).
In 2007, Nurkse was elected to a term on the board of directors of Amnesty International-USA.
His subjects have included mental health, trauma, and the September 11 terrorist attacks.