On Thursday, January 31st from 4pm – 5:30pm join local artist Nikyta Palmisani by the Library Fireside for a pop-up memorial for poet Mary Oliver (1935-2019). Bring a favorite Mary Oliver poem to share with the group.
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 1983 for her book American Primitive. Her final work, Devotions, is a curated collection of poetry from her more than 50-year career. 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. Listen to this rare interview with Mary Oliver from 2015 from the public radio show, On Being.