In this issue
-- The Big Read opens April 4th
-- Nominate Your Favorite Dickinson Poem
-- Gordon Getty and "The White Election"
-- Dickinson 101 -- Getting Comfortable with Reading Dickinson Aloud -- And Don't Miss A Voice of Her Own Reading and Booksigning -- Hedge and Fence Restoration Update -- Help Support the Emily Dickinson Museum -- "my Verse is alive" Exhibition -- About the Museum
The Big Read: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson begins April 4--in National Poetry Month !--and concludes June 13. Keep reading for more information.
Museum Hours
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The Big Read opens April 4th 
Celebrate National Poetry Month and the
opening
of The Big Read!The Big Read: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson is part of a pilot initiative created by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Poetry Foundation to celebrate great American poets and the nation's historic poetry locales.
OPENING EVENT!
The Future of Poetry. Keynote address by John
Barr,
president of the Poetry Foundation, funding partner of
the National Endowment for the Arts. Mr. Barr
shares reflections on the significance of poetry in
American society today and in the future. Free copies of Reader's Guides to the poetry of Emily Dickinson and selected poems are available to all program attendees for the duration of the The Big Read while supplies last. The Reader's Guide is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts with the support of the Poetry Foundation. |
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Nominate Your Favorite Dickinson Poem
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Gordon Getty and "The White Election" 
Saturday, April 18, 3 p.m."The White Election" First Congregational Church, 165 Main Street, Amherst Suggested contribution: $15 adults, $5 students at the door Composer Gordon Getty visits Amherst for a performance of his song cycle of 32 poems by Emily Dickinson as a new recording of this significant work is released. His composition was inspired by Dickinson's 1862 poetic declaration "Mine - by the Right of the White Election! . . . Mine - by the Grave's Repeal -- / Titled -- Confirmed -- Delirious Charter! Mine -- long as Ages steal!" In varied settings it explores themes of mortality, renunciation, and fulfillment. The song cycle, which has taken its place in the classical song canon, will be performed in Amherst by soprano Lisa Delan and pianist Kristin Pankonin.
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Dickinson 101 Jones Library, 43 Amity Street, Amherst Co-sponsored with the Jones Library No charge
An introduction to Emily Dickinson and her poetry for
all who are curious about her life and work but aren't
sure where to begin. Pre-registration is requested; walk-ins welcome on a space-available basis. Register by contacting N an Fischlein, or Beth Girshman, or the Jones Library reference desk. ASL interpretation is available with three weeks notice by contacting Beth Girshman.
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Getting Comfortable with Reading Dickinson Aloud 
Wednesdays, April 29, May 6, May 133 to 4:30 p.m. Emily Out Loud: Oral Interpretation with Emily Dickinson's Poetry Large Meeting Room, Jones Library, 43 Amity Street, Amherst Co-sponsored with the Jones Library No charge Emily Dickinson is known to have recited her own poems to favorite relatives. During these three sessions, an Emily Dickinson Museum guide and a retired English teacher works with children and young people to understand and share a Dickinson poem aloud. Learn how to make poetry "breathe" through oral interpretation and how to be comfortable in front of an audience.
This program is for young people ages 8 to young
adult. Because of limited class size, please pre-
register by e-mailing
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And Don't Miss A Voice of Her Own Reading and Booksigning 
Sunday, March 22, 2 p.m.A Voice of Her Own: Becoming Emily Dickinson A Reading and Booksigning by author Barbara Dana Trustees Room, Jones Library No charge Co-sponsored with the Jones Library Author and actor Barbara Dana will read from her new historical novel for young people, A Voice of Her Own: Becoming Emily Dickinson, published by HarperCollins. She will talk about the process of writing the book, what inspired her to write it, and what she hopes the book will inspire in its readers. A booksigning and reception will follow. Ms. Dana is an award-winning author of books for children and young adults, plays, and screenplays. Her first adult book, Wider than the Sky: Essays and Meditations on the Healing Power of Emily Dickinson has recently been released. Ms. Dana made her New York stage debut as an actor at age 17 in Arthur Laurents' "A Clearing in the Woods" and has appeared in many Broadway plays, films and television programs.
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Hedge and Fence Restoration Update 
The overgrown hemlock hedge in front of the
Homestead and The Evergreens has been entirely
removed. The view at right shows the Homestead in
early March 2009.
Now that the ground has thawed from Amherst's harsh winter, masons are preparing to reconstruct the granite coping wall and re-set the steps in front of the Homestead. Their work on the site will begin in mid-April. Carpenters are working busily behind the scenes to construct new picket fences and gateposts. Installation of the fences and new hedge will begin in May, and by June The Evergreens and the Homestead will present themselves more as they appeared during the 1870s. |
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Help Support the Emily Dickinson Museum 
The Emily Dickinson Museum has grown dramatically
in its programs, audience, and
impact in the five years since its creation
in 2003. It owes its success in large
measure to the generous encouragement of its
many dedicated friends and supporters who
have seen the rampant possibilities in the
Emily Dickinson Museum.
We need your support to continue to offer the quality programs and opportunities such as those you see in these Emily E-Updates. Find out more about how you can assist the Museum by clicking on the link below, or by contacting executive director Jane Wald. Please send your contribution to: Emily Dickinson Museum Annual Fund, 280 Main Street, Amherst MA 01002. Your help is especially appreciated during these challenging economic times. Thank you in advance for your support. |
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"my Verse is alive" Exhibition 
"my Verse is alive,"
a provocative exhibit exploring the intriguing
posthumous
publication of Dickinson's poetry, continues
at the
Emily Dickinson Museum Tour Center during regular
museum hours.
The exhibit takes its title from Emily Dickinson's 1862 query to author and activist Thomas Wentworth Higginson: "Are you too deeply occupied to say if my Verse is alive?" With documents and family artifacts, the exhibit traces the creation of her literary reputation through the competing efforts and loyalties of family members and intimates in the first fifty years after the poet's death.
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About the Museum 
The Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and
The Evergreens is dedicated to educating diverse
audiences about the poet's life, family,
creative
work, times, and enduring relevance, and to
preserving and interpreting the Homestead and
The
Evergreens as historical resources for the benefit of
scholars and the general public. The Emily Dickinson
Museum is owned by the Trustees of Amherst
College and has its own Board of Governors, which is
charged with the responsibility of raising the
Museum's operating and capital funds. The Museum
is a member of
Museums10, a collaboration of ten
museums linked to the five colleges in the Pioneer
Valley.
The Tour Center may be reached at 413-542-2947, Wednesday through Sunday, during museum hours.
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Quick Links... |
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Contact Information
phone:
413/542-8161
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