Sasha Waters, director and producer of the new American Masters documentary Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World, joins Big Blend Radio to talk about bringing the life of one of America's most beloved and most private poets to the screen.
Listen to the podcast episode:
Mary Oliver was a bestselling poet and Pulitzer Prize winner whose work — including "Wild Geese" and "The Journey" — has reached readers far beyond the usual poetry audience.
From a childhood shaped by hardship to a nearly fifty-year life in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Oliver found in nature, dogs, and daily walks the restorative power that would define her writing. Her decades-long partnership with photographer Molly Malone Cook shaped both her life and her ability to protect the privacy she guarded so fiercely, even as her work reached a wider and wider audience.
Mary Oliver on a boat with her dog, in 1991 ©NW Orchard, LLC courtesy of the Library of Congress
About the Film
Directed and produced by Sasha Waters, Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World draws on never-before-seen personal photos, notebooks, and correspondence from Oliver's archive, alongside interviews with those who knew her best — including her close friend John Waters. The film also features recitations of Oliver's poetry by Stephen Colbert, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Buscemi, Helena Bonham Carter, and Lucy Dacus, among others.
The film made its world premiere as the opening selection at the True/False Film Festival, and has since screened at the Berkshire International Film Festival and the Provincetown Film Festival.
Mary Oliver ©NW Orchard LLC
In the Conversation
Sasha talks about:
How Mary Oliver's decades in Provincetown — walking the same paths through every season — shaped her writing and her sense of the world
The restorative, healing power of nature and dogs in Oliver's life, following a difficult childhood
Oliver's four-decade love story with photographer Molly Malone Cook
Why Oliver resisted becoming a "brand," and how the film balances intimacy with the privacy she so deeply protected
How voices like John Waters, Steve Buscemi, Stephen Colbert, and Helena Bonham Carter came to be part of the film — each with their own authentic connection to Oliver's work
Why Oliver's writing about attention, presence, and the natural world feels more urgent than ever
Sasha's own path from photography into filmmaking, and the creative challenge of telling a writer's story on screen
"She reminds all of us that we have the ability to be replenished and nourished by the natural world. And I think that is so important. I mean, it's more important now than it ever has been."
This episode also lands right in the middle of American Artists Appreciation Month — a fitting time to celebrate a filmmaker telling the story of one of America's great literary artists.
Where to Watch
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World premieres nationwide on PBS Tuesday, August 25 as part of American Masters, with a digital and home video release the same day. The film is also out now in theaters — including IFC Center in New York and Laemmle theaters in LA — and expanding nationwide.