Resources for Reading and Teaching about Poet Mary Oliver

 

Who am I that I

read Mary Oliver and think

I’m a writer too?

 

I photograph and write haikus as I walk around my yard, the woods, or the lake. Often I do this after I’ve soaked in Mary Oliver’s poetry. I’m still pondering her use of the word “iceberg,” in “When Death Comes.” I might have used “ice pick.” I know there is a reason, having read her Poetry Handbook. 

The August 2026 release of the PBS American Masters Documentary about Mary Oliver, Saved by the Beauty of the World, prompts me to post these resources for those who love the sound of her voice, who bathe in the beauty of her words.

 

PBS: American Masters: Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World: (1:22:25 video) https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/mary-oliver-documentary/37967/

 

Mary Oliver’s Official Webpage features bio, books, and more: https://maryoliver.com/

 

Mary Oliver reads from A Thousand Mornings at 92^nd Street Y: (41 minute video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsr3ZZzH-MA

 

Mary Oliver in conversation with Coleman Barks, August 2001 (33 minute video): https://vimeo.com/11367099

A tribute to Mary Oliver at 92^nd Street Y: (1 hour, 6 minute video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSixhSzkZDc

 

Krista Tippett’s On Being audio Interview with Mary Oliver: “I got saved by the beauty of the world,” (Original air date February 5, 2015): edited and unedited versions available, with transcripts: https://onbeing.org/programs/mary-oliver-i-got-saved-by-the-beauty-of-the-world/

 

Maria Shriver’s interview with Mary Oliver, referenced in the documentary, is available here in print form: https://www.oprah.com/entertainment/Maria-Shriver-Interviews-Poet-Mary-Oliver/3 

 

-Susan Gelber Cannon, September 3, 2026
https://www.instagram.com/suecannonreflects/ 

Courage, Vulnerability, & Love: The Difference between "Fitting in" and "Belonging" (Brené Brown: On Being Interview)

Brené Brown: 

Today, as I often do on Sunday mornings, I listened to Krista Tippett’s interview program on public radio: On Being.  As a person and as a teacher, I was moved by social researcher/storyteller Brené Brown’s reflections on the difference between fitting in and belonging.  How do we find the connection we crave as human beings without sacrificing our true selves?

Points of special interest to faculty/staff from the interview are posted below, along with links to other resources on Brené Brown, social researcher and author. I think there's a lot here for parents, community leaders, and all of us!  I commend the entire interview to you.

May we have the courage to help each other to authentically connect and to truly belong.

Susan Gelber Cannon
February 2018

EXCERPTS:
Krista Tippett, host: Brené Brown says that our belonging to each other can’t be lost, but it can be forgotten. Her research has reminded the world in recent years of the uncomfortable, life-giving link between vulnerability and courage. Now she’s turning her attention to how we walked into the crisis of our life together and how we can move beyond it: with strong backs, soft fronts, and wild hearts.

Brené Brown: I don’t think — when we’re our best selves with each other, I don’t think that’s what’s possible between people. I believe that’s what’s true between people. And I don’t think we have to work to make it true between people. I think we just have to get the stuff out of the way that’s stopping it from happening…..

…. I was doing some research, and I was in a middle school, and I was doing focus groups with middle schoolers. And I was asking these middle schoolers what the difference was — what they thought the difference was between fitting in and belonging. And they just had these incredibly simple and profound answers: “Fitting in is when you want to be a part of something. Belonging is when others want you.”

 …. I think one of the greatest casualties of trauma is the loss of the ability to be vulnerable. And so when we define trauma as oppression, sexism, racism, I have no choice but to leave my house with my armor on and carry the 20 tons of that through my day, no matter how crippling it is, no matter how heavy it is, because I am not physically safe in a world — or, this environment. That’s why, when I work with teachers, I tell them all the time: "You may be creating the only space in a child’s life where he or she can walk in, hang up their backpack, and hang up their armor. Only for the hour or two hours this child is with you can they literally take that off…..”

RESOURCES:
Listen to the entire interview and/or read the transcript at the ON BEING website: https://onbeing.org/programs/brene-brown-strong-back-soft-front-wild-heart-feb2018/

Visit Brené Brown’s website: https://brenebrown.com

Read excerpts from Brené Brown’s books at her Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Brené-Brown/e/B001JP45BA/ref=sr_tc_2_rm?qid=1518374483&sr=1-2-ent

View her 2010 TED Talk, The Power of Vulnerability, here: https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability/transcript