The following is a reflection written by a student at Smith College. It is about a poetry reading that Mary Oliver gave there in April of this year (2000).

Well, she was incredible! She packed the original location of her reading so much we all had to move to a bigger auditorium!!
She got there, and she is so small and unformal and humble. She was wearing casual clothes, not done up at all. She has no idea how dynamic she is and how much of a presence she has. She told the best litle anecdotes before each piece.
My favorite was before reading about some poem about a bear(??), she told the story behind it.
One day, all the town was tlaking about was that a bear had been seen in the town neraby's woods, and that was incredible because it was not at all the right place to see a bear. Everyone was talking about it, but no one knew the original viewer, who really saw it. It was just "They saw a bear!!"
So Mary, walked into the post office, and starting talking to her friend who'd been ill lately, and staying home. He got so bored, and cabin-fever-ish, that he went to that nearby town and made the whole thing up!

It was hysterical. She was so funny.

I think she is teaching at Bennington in Vermont.

Thanks again
Emma A

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