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Mary Oliver

メアリー・オリヴァー

Mary Oliver

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1935-09-10 （Maple Heights, Ohio, U.S.）
Died
2019-01-17 （Hobe Sound, Florida, U.S.） age 83
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Maple Heights, Ohio (birthplace) → Provincetown, Massachusetts (longtime residence) → Bennington, Vermont (residence/work) → Hobe Sound, Florida (later residence)

Career

Occupations
Poet
Active Years
1950-2019
Influenced By
Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Rumi, Hafez, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley

Education

Ohio State University
Period: 1950年代中頃
Country: United States
Attended but did not receive a degree
Vassar College
Period: 1950年代中頃
Country: United States
Attended but did not receive a degree

Awards

Shelley Memorial Award
1970
Organization: Poetry Society of America
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1980
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1984
Work: American Primitive
Organization: The Pulitzer Prizes
Result: 受賞
L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award
1991
Work: House of Light
Organization: PEN New England
Result: 受賞
National Book Award for Poetry
1992
Work: New and Selected Poems
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Lannan Literary Award
1998
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 受賞
Goodreads Choice Award (Best Poetry)
2012
Work: A Thousand Mornings
Organization: Goodreads
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

No Voyage, and Other Poems

1963 Poetry collection

Early collection of poems focusing on nature and personal observation.

NatureSolitudeObservation

American Primitive

1983 Poetry collection

Pulitzer Prize–winning collection noted for its vivid nature imagery and introspection.

Nature and selfExistenceObservation

House of Light

1990 Poetry collection

A collection meditating on light and the natural world; highly regarded by critics.

LightNatureSpirituality

New and Selected Poems

1992 Poetry collection (selected)

A landmark anthology combining selected earlier poems with new work; won the National Book Award.

Death and lifeNatureAmazement

Why I Wake Early

2004 Poetry collection

Poems reflecting on daily awakenings and awareness of the natural world.

MorningNature observationGratitude

A Thousand Mornings

2012 Poetry collection

A mature collection of poems capturing moments of daily life and nature's wonders.

Everyday lifeNatureTime

Bibliography

  • No Voyage, and Other Poems (1963)
  • The River Styx, Ohio, and Other Poems (1972)
  • Twelve Moons (1979)
  • American Primitive (1983)
  • House of Light (1990)
  • New and Selected Poems (1992)
  • Why I Wake Early (2004)
  • A Thousand Mornings (2012)
  • Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver (2017)

Translations of Works

  • Ocell Roig (Catalan translation, 2018)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Plain, accessible languageObservational poetry rooted in natureIntrospective and often spiritual tone
Recurring Motifs
WalksWildlife (birds, whales, etc.)Light and seasonal changeCircles of life and death

Health

  • Lung cancer (2012)
    2012
    Treated and at one point given a clean bill of health
  • Lymphoma (cause of death)
    2019
    Died of lymphoma in 2019

Legacy

Renowned for accessible, nature-rooted poetry that reached a wide readership; considered one of America's best-selling poets. Winner of major awards including the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, she helped sustain and renew the tradition of nature poetry in contemporary literature.

Academic Societies

  • Phi Beta Kappa (honorary membership)

Archives

  • Materials held/represented at the Poetry Foundation
  • Publisher and personal archives (including materials related to Molly Malone Cook)

In Popular Culture

  • Reported as the best-selling poet in the United States as of 2007

Quotes

  • "When it's over I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms."
    Source: New and Selected Poems (from the poem "When Death Comes") (1992)

Trivia

  • She made solitary walks in nature a lifelong habit and drew inspiration from those walks.
  • Her longtime partner was photographer Molly Malone Cook, who also acted as her literary agent.
  • Won the Pulitzer Prize (1984) and the National Book Award (1992).