Description

One of O, The Oprah Magazine’s Ten Best Books of the Year, Upstream is a New York Times bestselling collection showcasing essays from beloved poet Mary Oliver.

Critics have praised Oliver’s prose, noting its lyrical intensity and profound insightfulness. Maureen Corrigan of NPR’s Fresh Air shared, “There’s hardly a page in my copy of Upstream that isn’t folded down, underlined, or scribbled on, so charged is Oliver’s language.” The New York Times also described the volume as an exceptional collection, merging the poet’s reflections on nature, spirituality, and creativity into an eloquent whole.

Upstream opens with Oliver’s introspective admission: “In the beginning I was so young and such a stranger to myself I hardly existed. I had to go out into the world and see it and hear it and react to it, before I knew at all who I was, what I was, what I wanted to be.” These essays beautifully explore Oliver’s lifelong devotion—as both child and adult—to losing herself in the captivating beauty and mysteries of nature and literature. She reflects on her formative connection with Walt Whitman, whose work taught her that poetry can be a temple—a sanctuary one enters to deeply experience and feel. Reflecting on Whitman’s influence, she explores how writers like him inspired her dedication to a life defined by meaningful work and passionate artistry. “I could not be a poet without the natural world. Someone else could. But not me,” Oliver explains. “For me, the door to the woods is the door to the temple.”

In this thoughtful collection, Mary Oliver contemplates the joys found within creative endeavors, nourishes her endless fascination for the natural world’s flora and fauna, and acknowledges the legacy left by literary icons such as Shelley, Wordsworth, Emerson, Poe, and Frost. These great thinkers have instilled in her—and now in her readers—a profound responsibility to live thoughtfully, remain curious, and observe with deep passion.

Ultimately, Oliver does more than position herself upstream—she invites us to join her on a journey toward the unknown, encouraging us all to surrender ourselves to the sense of wonder in exploration, and to grant our creative impulses the attention, nurturing, and freedom they truly deserve.