Culture & Arts

W.S. Merwin: Lessons from a Palm Garden

Hawaii Public Radio | By Noe Tanigawa

Published August 7, 2015 at 5:05 AM HST

William S. Merwin was United States Poet Laureate in 2010, and he’s received numerous awards including two Pulitzers for his work as a poet, translator and environmental activist. Over the last 30 years, Merwin and his wife, Paula have been developing an internationally recognized palm garden on Maui. HPR’sNoeTanigawa offers a look at the relationship he has with that place.

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In this extended conversation, Mr. Merwin goes into more detail about how the garden was reclaimed and developed. He talks about waking, and walking in the garden in the middle of the night, and the mystery that is so essential to our human lives.

Take a video walk through the Merwin Conservancy palm forest with W.S. Merwin.

The Merwin Conservancy shepherds a number of programs including a Green Room Series of talks by artists, writers, and environmentalists. Coming next, environmental writer, Barry Lopez on Friday, October 23, 2015 at 7:00 pm, at the Mc Coy Studio Theatre, MACC.

Check the Merwin Conservancy’s Poem of the Week.

Find a 2010 interview with Noe where Mr. Merwin talks more about his epic poem/novel, The Folding Cliffs.