Mary Oliver — Listening to the World

The On Being Project
The On Being Project
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Published 2019-09-23
Mary Oliver was one of our greatest and most beloved poets. She is often quoted by people across ages and backgrounds — and it’s fitting, since she described poetry as a sacred community ritual. “When you write a poem, you write it for anybody and everybody,” she said. Mary died on January 17, 2019, at the age of 83. She was a prolific and decorated poet whose honors included the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In this 2015 conversation — one of the rare interviews she granted during her lifetime — she discussed the wisdom of the world, the salvation of poetry, and the life behind her writing. (Original Air Date: February 5, 2015)

About the Guest:
Mary Oliver published over 25 books of poetry and prose, including “Dream Work,” “A Thousand Mornings,” and “A Poetry Handbook.” She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984 for her book “American Primitive.” Her final work, “Devotions,” is a curated collection of poetry from her more than 50-year career.

Visit our website to read the transcript, download the episode, or listen to the unedited interview: onbeing.org/programs/mary-oliver-listening-to-the-…

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All Comments (21)
  • @liOo___k
    it's so priceless to hear her saying these beautiful words on life, little things and what comes after. thank you for this moving and profound interview 🦢
  • @asharajwade8745
    Indeed a treat! Mary Oliver's simple words speak for all of us, touch the core of our heart so lovingly! "More willing to grow old..." Indeed! So true. !
  • @gilliani.4328
    Beautiful interview I write through the tears streaming down my cheeks. ❤ Mary Oliver will live on through all the rest of my days and more.
  • @carolannbassett6646
    She had a sacred relationship with the natural world through empathy and love.
  • @HampsteadO
    Had my eyes closed,half asleep and heard her saying she reads Rumi every day, and tears welled up. I love Rumi and read him every day in original (one of the few flexes of being a Persian), and it suddenly hits differently that May Oliver also loves him.
  • @TerrillWelch
    What a wonderful addition to my Sunday morning. I am a landscape painter who is more comfortable in nature than anywhere else and befriended Mary Oliver’s poetry many years ago. Thank you so much for this very special interview with Mary about her life and poetry. What a treasured gift to us all.
  • @deeheffernan6152
    everything she said hit me right in the heart. her particular form of hope and belief is so important to me. the way she said she saved her own life? yeah
  • @jdlcdn
    Appreciate her directness....reminds me of my grandmother who painted landscapes and studied scripture making notes...was a widow most of her life with 3 kids ..dad was 6 when his dad died
  • @kevinharrison3265
    I love her!♥️ She shriveled, died becoming a true sea fruit. Stub my toe, on you. So briny and sweet.
  • @somethingyousaid5059
    I had no idea that she had died. God what an original distinctive talent she was.
  • @shodopoet
    Just wow I bow down 🙏🏼 she was wonderful no pretense just exquisite openness
  • @djpassey312
    I add my thanks to yours! Thank you Mary Oliver for all you have given us in your life
  • @SueLyons1
    'I got saved by poetry and I got saved by the world' ❤ 'listening conviviably... to the world' ❤ 'attention is the beginning of devotion' ❤ 'how to be idle and blessed' ❤ 'your one wild and precious life' ❤ 'no sense of elites or difference' ❤ 'in your rage, you have sullied and murdered' 'what we are made of will make something else: there is no nothingness' ❤ 'I kept at it every day. Finally, you learn things' ❤ 'positively drenched in enthusiasm' ❤
  • @janswimwild
    A great poet and a beautiful soul, a gift of love, rawness and vulnerability.
  • @nettle_head
    I’m so thankful you had this conversation with her and shared it online