 A great Amherst Poetry Festival and Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon weekend!
Thank you to everyone who came out last weekend for the annual Amherst Poetry Festival and Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon!
The four-day event, led by the reading of all of Dickinson's nearly 2,000 poems, drew hundreds of people (among them longtime marathon participant Steve Fratoni, right, who dressed as Emily Dickinson's father Edward for opening night), included a wide variety of offerings includingpoetry readings, workshops, panels, open mics, and musical performances.
We also send our thanks to the many poets, artists, and performers who made this weekend so memorable, our festival co-sponsors, the Amherst Business Improvement District, and our media sponsors, the Daily Hampshire Gazette and the Valley Advocate. See you again next year!
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 October 16: Poetry Discussion Group with Bruce Penniman
The monthly Emily Dickinson Museum Poetry Discussion Group meets Friday, October 16, at noon at the First Congregational Church at 165 Main Street in Amherst. The fee is $12 for Museum members, $15 for non-members. The October discussion, "After Great Pain: Responses to Grief in Emily Dickinson's Late Poems and Letters," will be led by Bruce M. Penniman. For the discussion, the group will begin with the death of Dickinson's eight-year-old nephew Thomas Gilbert "Gib" Dickinson in October 1883 and look at several of the letters and poems that she wrote in response to that catastrophe over the next two years. Participants are encouraged to bring along for examination other Dickinson poems about grief, as well as related poems by other writers. The site director of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project and lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Bruce M. Penniman taught writing, speech, and literature at Amherst Regional High School from 1971 until 2007. He has served as a teacher curriculum mentor in all three NEH Emily Dickinson: Person, Poetry, and Place workshops and has facilitated discussions in the Poetry Discussion Group on topics ranging from Emily Dickinson and the Bible to Emily Dickinson and Science. Find out more about the Emily Dickinson Museum Poetry Discussion Group here.
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October 20: Teacher Tuesday at the EDM
The Emily Dickinson Museum's first Teacher Tuesday takes place Tuesday, October 20, from 4 to 6 pm. All educators are invited to this free program to learn about the resources we can provide for them and their students and to explore the Museum!
Make an herbarium, read poetry in Emily's bedroom, try your hand at our reverse scavenger hunt, and enjoy some gingerbread and cider. Let the museum inspire your next project with your students. Learn more about our Teacher Tuesday series here.
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A Halloween happening at The Evergreens
Get into the spirit of Halloween with The Aspect of the Place, a storytelling celebration of ghosts and all things Gothic at The Evergreens October 28 through November 1 from 6:30-8:30 pm. Co-produced by The Emily Dickinson Museum and TheatreTruck, a roving collaborative, The Aspect of the Place takes the audience through The Evergreens, the home of Austin Dickinson's family and a 'time capsule' of prosperous nineteenth-century life in a small New England town. The piece honors the house, the spooky delights of Victorian ghost stories, and the idea that phantoms walk within. Tickets are $15, $10 for Museum members. Reserve your tickets here.
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 November 5: Amherst Art Walk with upstreetliterary magazine
The Emily Dickinson Museum's monthly Amherst Art Walk poetry reading on Thursday, November 5 will feature local writers published in the literary magazine upstreet. Howard Faerstein and Maya Janson, both of Florence, are included in upstreet 11, the latest issue. Amy Dryansky of Conway, published in upstreet 9, and Karina Borowicz of Belchertown, who has a poem in upstreet 8 titled "Emily Dickinson's Dress," will also read. Upstreet founding editor and publisher Vivian Dorsel will introduce each poet.
The Amherst Art Walk runs from 5 to 8 pm. The poetry reading, which is free to all, will begin at 6:45 pm in the Homestead parlor.
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Dec. 12: Emily Dickinson birthday celebration
On Saturday, December 12, the Emily Dickinson Museum will celebrate Dickinson's 185th birthday with an open house of her newly restored bedroom.
All are invited to this free open house, which runs from 1 to 4 pm. Stay tuned for more
holiday-themed events the Museum will be offering throughout December!
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Book your autumn group tours now!
The leaves are changing colors, the New England air is brisk, and Emily Dickinson's bedroom restoration is complete - it's a perfect time to book a group tour at the Emily Dickinson Museum! The museum accommodates groups from varied backgrounds who wish to visit the museum, ranging from K-12 field trips to family reunions and alumni groups. Find out more about tours here.
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 So much grieved for
the Little Boy...
Emily Dickinson had a deep love for her nephew Thomas Gilbert "Gib" Dickinson, the youngest of her brother Austin and sister-in-law Susan's three children. The whole family doted on the precocious boy, and were crushed when, on October 5, 1883, Gib died shortly after contracting typhoid fever.
"'Open the Door, open the Door, they are waiting for me,' was Gilbert's sweet command in delirium." Dickinson wrote to her friend Elizabeth Holland in the days after his death. "Who were waiting for him, all we possess we would give to know - Anguish at last opened it, and he ran to the little Grave at his Grandparents' feet - All this and more, though is there more? More than Love and Death? Then tell me it's name!"
Dickinson had gone to The Evergreens to sit by Gib's bedside the night before he died. Her health deteriorated shortly after, and some scholars believe the grief over Gib's death contributed to her own less than three years later on May 15, 1886.
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