#maryoliver #podcast #poetry #mitchhampton #film #documentary Inside this episode: An American Poet: A Conversation with filmmaker Sasha Waters on Mary Oliver, Documentary Film and the ArtsWhen the subject of a film is no less a figure than Mary Oliver, not only one of the greatest of 20th Century American Poets but also one who wrote of and from the natural world as much as the human and cultural world, it might seem that the visual dimension is as important as the spoken or written word. Sasha Waters has, incredibly, accomplished this in her film Mary Oliver: Saved By The Beauty Of The World, a film that approaches in image some of what Oliver did in her words. I enjoyed speaking with Sasha about her process in making her film as its universality and particularity speaks to us now in 2026 in ways that feel most relevant. Sasha Waters Bio:Sasha Waters is an American documentary and experimental filmmaker, feminist and educator. She has produced and directed twenty films, most of which were shot on her 16mm Bolex. Her films have screened at the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of the Moving Image, the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival and DOC NYC. She is a Professor of Photography and Film at VCU School of the Arts in Richmond, Virginia. She has been a Fellow in residence at MacDowell, Yaddo, and at Millay Arts.Synopsis of Mary Oliver: Saved By The Beauty Of The World:If poetry had a pop icon, Mary Oliver would be it. Celebrated bestseller, Pulitzer Prize winner, lover of dogs and long walks in the woods, openly queer but intensely private, Oliver was America’s unlikely contemporary mystic, stalking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod for nearly 50 years in order to open herself – and her readers – to the known and unknowable world. From a lonely childhood to literary fame, Oliver’s life was shaped by devotion to nature, paying attention, and the long journey toward learning to love and to be loved. Her poems inspire liberals and conservatives, atheists and believers, naturalists and urbanites, speaking directly to contemporary anxieties about attention, presence, and the human relationship with the natural world – issues that feel especially pressing in an era of climate crisis, digital distraction, and social fragmentation. Featuring interviews with her close friends, including John Waters, never-before-seen personal photos, notebooks, and correspondence from her archive, and recitations of her work by Stephen Colbert, Lucy Dacus, Steve Buscemi, and Oprah Winfrey, Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World considers the poet’s long lifetime of work in context, capturing the uniqueness of her world and the natural beauty that inspired her. #poetry #queer #nature #massachusetts #newengland #documentary #pbs #healing #spirituality #recovery #trauma #wilderness #botany #biology #family #conservation #literature #sharonolds #elizabethbishop #Emerson #thoreau #robertfrost #transcendentalism #religion #faith #boston #virginia #iowa #writer #garywinogrand #normanmailer #newyork #romanticism #robertlowell #biography #america #feminism #lesbian #gay #bookstore #johnwaters #stephencolbert #oprahwinfrey #bookclub #youth #education #pinkflamingos #multiplemaniacs #baltimore #maryland #ptown #provincetown #divine #drag #lucydacus #stevebuscemi #helenabonhamcarter #season #summer #winter #spring #fall #jessewelles #1950s #1960s #1870s #1980s #1990s #2000s #dogs #dogmom #animals #modernism #postmodernism #1800s #20thcentury #1700s #tseliot #annesexton #maysarton #sylviaplath #ornithology #birds #forest #woods #bear #sufriedrich #lynnesachs #fredwiseman More about us:Our podcast is a comprehensive examination of all matters aesthetic, all the arts and humanities, how they connect us, a celebration of the creative process across all of the arts and most of all, what it means to be human. Mitch Hampton is a neurodivergent journalist and pianist who composes for film, television, commercials, live concerts.
