Annual Emily Dickinson Poetry walk and Open House Commemorates Anniversary of Poet's Death
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Starting Location
Emily Dickinson Museum
280 Main Street
Amherst, Massachusetts 01002
413-542-8161 |
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Join us
On Saturday, May 16, at 1 p.m. as the Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and The Evergreens sponsors the annual Emily Dickinson Poetry Walk and Open House. The Walk marks the anniversary of the poet's death on May 15, 1886, with readings of Dickinson's poetry at six historic sites in Amherst. The event is free and open to the public. (In the event of rain, the program will take place at First Congregational Church, 165 Main Street).
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1:00 p.m. Dickinson Homestead garden, 280 Main Street
1:20 p.m. Amherst Train Station, Railroad Street
1:40 p.m. Front steps of the Evergreens, 214 Main Street
2:00 p.m. Front lawn of the Amherst History Museum, 67 Amity Street
2:20 p.m. Parking lot behind Zanna, 187 North Pleasant Street
(next to Ren's Mobil Service, site of Dickinson's home)
2:30 p.m. Dickinson's grave site, West Cemetery, Triangle Street
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Poetry Walk
and Open House
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The Poetry Walk will begin at 1 p.m. in the Homestead garden at the Museum, and will proceed through Amherst, stopping at various sites significant in Dickinson's life. It ends at her grave in West Cemetery. (A full schedule is attached.) The format of this year's Walk marks a departure from previous Walks. Five area poets, each at a different site, will read and comment on their favorite Dickinson poems. The readers are Deborah Gorlin, Daniel Hall, Lisa Olstein, Pat Schneider, and Ellen Watson. Attendees will receive a souvenir booklet containing the poems that the readers have selected for the Walk.
The Museum will host an Open House after the Walk from 3 to 4 p.m. The Homestead and The Evergreens will be open for self-guided tours during that time, and guides will be on hand to answer questions. The Walk readers will be present to sign their books. Admission is free.
Deborah Gorlin teaches writing at Hampshire College and is one of the poetry editors of The Massachusetts Review. Daniel Hall is the Writer-in-Residence at Amherst College and directs the Creative Writing Center there. Lisa Olstein serves as Associate Director of the MFA Program for Poets and Writers at the University of Massachusetts and as Director of the Juniper Summer Writing Institute. Pat Schneider is the Founder and Director Emerita of Amherst Writers & Artists. Ellen Dore Watson directs the Poetry Center at Smith College and is one of the poetry editors of The Massachusetts Review.
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Programs and maps of the Walk's one-mile route, will be available at the Museum. Participants are welcome to join the Walk at any point along the route. Those who wish to participate only in the cemetery reading should meet at the Dickinson grave in West Cemetery on Triangle Street at 2:30 p.m.
The Poetry Walk and Open House are part of The Big Read: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson and take place during a busy Emily Dickinson weekend. Also scheduled are the premiere of "Emily of Amherst," (May 15-17), an interpretive biographical ballet based on the poet's life presented by Amherst Ballet, and a Sunday afternoon tea on the Museum grounds (May 17). For more information about these two events, visit www.amherstballet.org.
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. Free copies of a Reader's Guide and a Teacher's Guide to the poetry of Emily Dickinson will be available to attendees at all The Big Read events. For more information about The Big Read programs please contact Cindy Dickinson, at 413-542-8429 or
csdickinson@emilydickinsonmuseum.org.
The Museum is located at 280 Main Street in Amherst and is owned by the Trustees of Amherst College. For more information about the Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and The Evergreens please call 413/542-8161 or visit www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org.
Wheelchair accessible parking is available at the Homestead; all other vehicles are asked to park on the street or in an Amherst College lot on Spring Street. Call for more information about accessibility.
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