Oliver, Mary (1935–)
Oliver, Mary (1935–)
American poet. Born Mary Jane Oliver, 1935, in Cleveland, Ohio; dau. of Edward William Oliver (teacher) and Helen M.V. Oliver; attended Ohio State University; graduate of Vassar College; m. Molly Malone Cook (partner).
Published 1st collection, No Voyage and Other Poems (1963); drew on Ohio heritage for The River Styx and Other Poems (1972); awarded Pulitzer Prize for American Primitive (1983); wrote chapbooks as well, including Night Traveler (1978) and Sleeping in the Forest (1978); taught at Case Western Reserve (1980s), was poet-in-residence at Bucknell (1986) and Sweet Briar College (1991), and held Catharine Osgood Foster chair at Bennington; won National Book Award for New and Selected Poems (1992) and Christopher Award for House of Light (1990); published book-length poem, The Leaf and the Cloud (2000); additional writings include Dream Work (1986), White Pine (1994), West Wind (1997), Winter Hours (1999), Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays (2003), Why I Wake Early (2004) and Long Life: Essays and Other Writings (2004).