Mary Oliver

Rosemary Anne Lucas (Victoria University)

Ed. by Cristina Sandru, The Literary Encyclopedia, Justin Parks, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

Born 10 Sep 1935
Died 17 Jan 2019
Activity 1963-2019

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Activities

Primary

Poet
Teacher/ Professor

Resources

So come to the pond,
or the river of your imagination,
or the harbor of your longing,

and put your lips to the world.
And live
your life.
(Red Bird, 57)

Celebrated poet Mary Oliver wrote prolifically throughout a lifetime dedicated to the art of paying attention and the poetic craft of expressing it effectively. In their different modes, all her writings—mainly poetry, but also essays, memoir and guides to the writing of poetry—exhort the reader to follow her lead and enter into the embodied presence of the world through the portal of the poetic image, to “drink” at the pond of their own awakened imagination. In sharing in the experience of what Oliver offers as a quietly ecstatic and transformative relation with the natural world, the...

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

3723 words

Citation: Lucas, Rosemary Anne. "Mary Oliver". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 September 2008; last revised 17 February 2026. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3413, accessed 09 June 2026.]