A lioness, aloft on beetle wings

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Poet Mary Oliver, in a 1996 Los Angeles Times interview, said “I’d rather be around polar bears than people.

“The natural world is safe and beautiful and leads to sublime thoughts. Beauty leads to virtue. Poetry speaks to the natural world,” she said.
Oliver is one of the preeminent living American poets. Some five decades into a writing career that has produced nearly 30 volumes of work, she is a lionized figure of prose, a master of a poetry that looks to everyday moments in the natural world for inspiration, affirmation and solace. She is often considered to carry the torch in the tradition of Robert Frost and Henry David Thoreau.

Oliver will be in Jackson Hole this week to read some of her work, field questions from fans and, more than likely, commune with the special slice of the natural world found here.

At 7 p.m. Friday at Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village, the Pulitzer Prize- and American Book Award-winning Oliver will greet the community with verse and other insights into her life and work. Her visit is the latest in the Page to the Podium series, a relatively new Teton Library Foundation mission to bring notable literary stars to the valley. Some free tickets to the evening are still available at the library, but you must show a library card to get one.

Then, the following day, for those who want the opportunity to encounter Oliver in a more intimate setting, the poet will participate in a special “Literary Lunch.”

Beginning at 11:30 a.m. Friday in the Cottonwood Ballroom of the Four Seasons Resort, Oliver will be interviewed by Jackson Hole’s own Terry Tempest Williams, herself a noted writer and naturalist. In addition to the opportunity to hear one of the great poetic spirits of the last century masterfully interviewed, attendees will also have a chance to ask Oliver questions. Tickets to the lunch are $75. Call 733-2164 or go to www.tclib.org for more information.
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A lioness, aloft on beetle wings | Planet JH News Article: General Music Arts and Culture

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