There is a June when Corn is cut
And Roses in the Seed -
A Summer briefer than the first
But tenderer indeed

--Fr 811

HOURS
Summer: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Wednesday - Sunday during June, July and August.
Regular Schedule: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Wednesday - Sunday from March - December.
Closed January and February.

Wednesday, June 15, 9 a.m. to noon (light rain or shine).
Enjoy a summer morning members-only opportunity to work in Emily Dickinson's garden under the direction of Marta McDowell, landscape historian and author of Emily Dickinson's Gardens.

Thursday, June 16, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Join McDowell in a conversation about Emily Dickinson as a gardener and a stroll around the improved gardens. Dickinson-inspired hors d'oeuvres will be served along with lemonade and May wine.

Come to one or both member events. RSVP by June 10 by e-mail, or phone 413-542-5311.

Not yet a Friend? JOIN NOW and come!

Emily Dickinson made nosegays for her friends and family -- she even used them to send messages. Learn about the history of nosegays and their connections to the poet and her world. Then make a nosegay of your own! Materials will be provided, but please bring scissors, pruning shears if you have them, and your favorite pen to write with.

Join landscape historian and gardener Marta McDowell as she returns to Amherst for her annual garden-related program. To register, contact program coordinator Nan Fischlein by e-mail or at 413-542-2034.

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A juggler, a storyteller, and a parade -- it's circus time at the Emily Dickinson Museum! The 2011 "Creatures of Bliss and Mystery: A Nineteenth-Century Circus" is free and open to the public, especially children ages 3 to 10 (and their adult companions).

Folksinger and storyteller Tim Van Egmond will present a lively program of tales and folksongs at 1:30 and 3:15 p.m. Henry the Juggler will perform at 2:15 p.m., and following the show, he will offer an informal juggling workshop. Other participatory activities include tightrope walking, a ring-toss, and kid friendly crafts. Children can make fancy hats, festive flags, and masks to sport during the "Parade Around the Grounds," which begins at 2:45 p.m.

Much more information about "Creatures of Bliss and Mystery"

The workshop will cover the state of women's history in National Register documentation today and the process by which nominations are completed and evaluated. It concludes with a visit to the Emily Dickinson Homestead (a NHL since the 1960s) and the Evergreens (NRHP, but not yet part of the NHL program) as a case study. The Emily Dickinson Museum plans to draft a new nomination that encompasses both homes. A tour of the site will highlight issues raised by the effort to achieve NHL status.

For information about and registration for the conference, go to the conference website. To register for the workshop only, apart from the conference, please contact UMass History Professor Marla Miller.

We thank all of the readers who helped to share Dickinson's "Letter to the World," including students at the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School, faculty and students from Amherst College and the University of Massachusetts, Dickinson scholars from Japan and Poland, Amherst residents, and even a few readers from Northampton and The Berkshires. At least five participants read their own translations of Dickinson's work.

The Poetry Walk was one of the final events of The Big Read: Emily Dickinson. Our thanks to everyone in the Amherst community for their support of this project, which was funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The 2011 theme is Great Debates. Panel discussions and conversations will focus on some of the most perplexing issues surrounding Emily Dickinson's life and work: Why didn't Dickinson publish? What literary characteristics make a Dickinson poem Dickinsonian? Why did the poet become a recluse? Historians, Dickinson scholars, authors, and long-time readers of Emily Dickinson will serve as panelists for a lively exchange of ideas.

The meeting includes a book-signing and open house at the Emily Dickinson Museum on Saturday, July 30 at 5:30 p.m. Authors of Dickinson-related books who are attending the meeting and wish to have their books available for the book-signing are invited to e-mail Jane Wald with the title and publisher of the book so it can be ordered.

Detailed information about the conference and registration forms

In a shadowed attic crammed with curio cabinets, work tables, chests, and drawers (containers for mementos and unmentionables), a daughter searches for what it is that ties together her mother, herself, and an elusive poet. A story about the crafting of stories, "Industrious Angels" was conceived by actor/creator Laurie McCants on a visit to Emily Dickinson's home, where the poet wrote, in secret, the almost 1800 poems that were found after her death. The story unfolds through puppetry, paper-cutting, music, movement, light and dark, and the weaving together of words. It is a dance of the hands honoring women's handiwork: mending, preserving, ordering, adorning, writing, hiding.

More information about the Ko Festival, "Industrious Angels," and tickets

The exhibit is entitled "Dwell in Possibility" and has been created by Peter Krasznekewicz from Big Sur, California, a sophomore at Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Mass. The full project will show the interaction of up to 50 little white houses with outside, natural community spaces. The roof of each house will present a canvas on which a quote from Emily Dickinson will be imprinted, giving observers the chance to reflect on her profound words. The houses will be made of environmentally-friendly plywood which will ultimately be recycled for the construction of a house in the Amherst area.

More information about the Little White House at the Emily Dickinson Museum will be available later in the year.

The Museum's Tour Center may be reached at 413-542-2947, Wednesday through Sunday, during museum hours.