Who is Emily Dickinson?
” Martha Ackmann, Senior Lecturer, Women’s Studies Department, Mount Holyoke College. Ackmann will introduce participants to Dickinson’s life and address some of the myths that surround her. Evening will also include a screening of “The Poet in Her Bedroom” (2008). Martha Ackmann’s scholarly work has appeared in the Emily Dickinson Journal, An Emily Dickinson Encyclopedia, and the anthology The Emily Dickinson Handbook. She has taught seven undergraduate seminars on Dickinson at the Emily Dickinson Museum and is the author of the book, Ten Days in the Life, Loves and Mystery of Emily Dickinson (forthcoming Harper Collins/Smithsonian). April 28–“The Power of Dickinson’s Poetry” Marilyn Nelson, poet Participants will discover the power of Dickinson’s poetry by examining characteristics and major themes of her work. Marilyn Nelson was the Connecticut State Poet Laureate for 2001 to 2006. She is the author of six books of poetry, two children’s collections, and several chapbooks. Her work
Martha Ackmann, Senior Lecturer, Women’s Studies Department, Mount Holyoke College, introduces participants to Dickinson’s life and addresses some of the myths that surround her. April 28. The Power of Dickinson’s Poetry. Award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson shows participants how to unleash the power of Dickinson’s poetry by examining characteristics and major themes of her work. May 5. Emily Dickinson’s Legacy: Exploring Her Manuscripts, Publications, and a Dickinson Archive Participants follow the extraordinary saga of how Dickinsons poetry came to be published with Cindy Dickinson, the museums director of interpretation and programming, and receive a private tour of Dickinson treasures in the Jones Librarys Special Collections with curator Tevis Kimball. May 12. A Poet’s Mind A panel of eminent poetsApril Bernard, John Hennessey, Richard Wilbur, and moderator Susan Snivelyprovide insights into the mind of the poet and reflect on what Dickinson has taught them about poetry and how they
Emily Dickinson is one of America’s most famous poets, known for her innovative use of free verse and her insights into subjects like the natural world, spirituality, death, and solitude. Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, and spent her entire life in her childhood home. Dickinson came from a wealthy, educated family; her father was a state Senator and later a member of the United States House of Representatives. Dickinson attended an exclusive private school, Amherst Academy, and went to college at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, now called Mount Holyoke College. After finishing her education, however, Emily Dickinson became reclusive, and rarely left her Amherst home. She died at the age of 55, of a kidney disease called nephritis. During Emily Dickinson’s lifetime, she was completely unknown as a poet. Only ten of her poems were published while she was alive. After Dickinson’s death, however, her family discovered a collection of hand-bound volumes containing
