# Mary Oliver Memorial Reading

The second annual reading Mary Oliver Memorial Reading at the Library of Congress highlighted emerging poets writing on the natural world. Bestselling poet and writer Aimee Nezhukumatathil read with emerging poets Ariana Benson and Robin Walter. A moderated discussion and book signing followed the reading. Ariana Benson’s debut poetry collection, “Black Pastoral,” won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the 2024 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets. A Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellow, she is also the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Furious Flower Poetry Prize, and the Graybeal-Gowen Prize for Virginia Poets. Benson facilitates creative writing and storytelling workshops for students at historically Black colleges and universities. Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the book of food essays “Bite By Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees” and the New York Times best-selling illustrated collection of nature essays, “World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks & Other Astonishments.” She also wrote five previous poetry collections, including “Oceanic.” Her honors include a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Pushcart Prize, a US Artists Fellowship, the North American Association of Environmental Education’s 2024 Pepe Marcos-Iga Award for Innovation in Environmental Education and a Guggenheim fellowship in poetry. The poetry editor for…

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2025
- Runtime: 57 min
- By: Casper, Rob
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/video-10766/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/video-10766?play=1)