Lunchtime Learning - Poetry as Prayer Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver, 1935-2019, was one of the most prolific spiritual poets of the 20/21st century. Writing in the United States of America, and a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mary Oliver is claimed by a number of denominations: she worshipped in the episcopal tradition but was often regarded as in some sense unitarian because of her focus on God as creator, and the creation as an especial revelation of the nature of God.  The focus of her poetry is overwhelmingly that of nature, but she also celebrates the numinous in other aspects of ordinary life.  She is often regarded as a feminist poet but receives considerable criticism from some feminists. She is  seen as belonging to  the tradition of Whitman and Thoreau.

Helen Stanton is a theologian, writer and spiritual director, who formerly worked for the Cambridge Theological Federation, where she taught literature and pastoral theology,  and latterly for the Queen's Foundation in Birmingham.  Helen currently works as Warden of Holland House Retreat Centre, near Pershore.

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