Author Archive: Patrick Fecher

Circular image of the Earth with Emily's handwriting overlaid atop

Emily Dickinson International Society
Annual Meeting
August 6 – 7

Circular image of the Earth with Emily's handwriting overlaid atop

Emily Dickinson International Society

 

“‘Stratford on Avon’ – accept us all!”

Dickinson and Shakespeare:

2021 Annual Meeting

 

VIRTUAL PROGRAM
August 6+7
REGISTER

 
 
 
 
In collaboration with the Emily Dickinson Museum, the 2021 EDIS Annual Meeting will be held remotely on August 6+7, 2021. This year’s focus is Dickinson’s great love of Shakespeare with a variety of scholarly panels, lectures, and workshops.

Discuss aspects of Dickinson’s reading of or response to Shakespeare, and compare Dickinson’s and Shakespeare’s writings. Consider Shakespeare’s place in Dickinson’s society and literary culture and how Dickinson’s contemporaries engaged with Shakespeare.

Highlights include a keynote lecture by Adeline Chevrier-Bosseau, seminar-discussions led by Páraic Finnerty and Martha Nell Smith, Shakespeare readings, special Shakespeare-related tours of the Dickinson Museum and an exhibit of watercolors by Victoria Dickson. More details will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. Join the Emily Dickinson International Society for an opportunity to discuss the connections between these two extraordinary writers this summer!

poetry walk

2022 Tell It Slant Poetry Festival Call for Proposals

The Emily Dickinson Museum is now accepting proposals for the tenth annual Tell It Slant Poetry Festival, held September 19-25, 2022!

Produced by the Emily Dickinson Museum, with support from the Beveridge Family Foundation and Mass Cultural Council, the Tell It Slant Poetry Festival celebrates the poetic legacy of Emily Dickinson and the contemporary creativity of the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

The Festival’s name “Tell It Slant” (new in 2020), was selected in homage to Dickinson’s poem, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” This title underscores the revolutionary power of poetry to shift our perspective and reveal new truths. The Tell It Slant Poetry Festival remains committed to featuring and serving established and emerging poets who represent the diversity of the flourishing contemporary American poetry scene, and to fostering community by placing poetry in the public sphere. To see our 2021 Festival schedule click here.

The 2022 Festival returns to the Emily Dickinson Museum with a combination of in-person and virtual programs. We invite you to “dwell in possibility” and submit your most inventive proposals for audience-centered performances, workshops, panel discussions, and programs.

The Steering Committee especially welcomes the following:

  • Submissions from groups of 2 – 5 facilitators
  • Submissions that engage young attendees and those new to poetry
  • Submissions that creatively encourage audience participation or that foster a sense of community

Honoraria are provided per event. 

Proposals should be designed for one of the following program types to be scheduled September 19-25 (You may submit separate forms if proposing more than one program):

IN-PERSON GENERAL AUDIENCE PROGRAMS:

  • Poetry workshops, panels, or other participatory programs open to the public. Event sessions are typically 60- to 90-minutes long. 
  • $250 honoraria offered per event.

IN-PERSON GENERAL AUDIENCE PERFORMANCES:

  • Music, theater, dance, or other performance open to the public. Submissions should be for 60- to 90-minute programs.
  • A $500 honorarium is offered for this program. 

VIRTUAL PROGRAMS:

  • Poetry workshops, panels, or participatory programs open to the public and hosted on the Festival’s remote conferencing platform. Virtual programs must be designed for a minimum of 50. Proposals may also be designed for an unlimited number of Festival registrants. 
  • $250 honoraria offered per event.

HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOPS (to be held in person and scheduled during the school day between Monday, September 19th and Friday, September 23rd):

  • Private poetry workshops for classes of high school age students (grades 9-12). Submissions should be for 45-minute sessions offered up to four times between 7:50am and 3pm EST. Partner schools will be shared with selected poets and will include schools in Hampshire and Hampden counties.
  • A $350 honorarium is offered for the day’s workshops.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Only submissions made in the online form will be considered. There is no fee to submit proposals.
  • To complete your submission, please upload the following to this Dropbox folder:
    • The resumes/CVs of all presenters.
    • If appropriate, up to 3 sample poems per group member.
    • Any desired links, audio, or video files of performances or facilitation. 
    • High resolution headshots of all presenters. 
  • All your materials as listed above should be titled by your PROGRAM TITLE. You may upload materials as one zipped file or individually. We can accept .pdf, .doc, .doc(x) files. If applicable, you may upload images in .png, .jpg, or .gif form and audio files in .mp3, .aac, or .wav form.
  • Selected facilitators will be notified by the end of July and will be asked to sign a letter of agreement confirming their participation in the Festival.
  • Submissions Due: Sunday, July 17 at 11:59PM, EST.

Submissions will be judged on the following:

  • Originality – Is your idea bold and intriguing? Will it offer something new to our Festival?
  • Quality – Does the submission reflect thoughtful preparation? How are you uniquely qualified to facilitate this program?
  • Audience – Have you clearly outlined participatory elements? How does your proposal contribute to community-building for the Tell It Slant Poetry Festival? 
  • Special consideration will be given to Pioneer Valley and Massachusetts-based facilitators.

SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL

Questions? Email us at edmprograms@emilydickinsonmuseum.org

 

Parlor of the Homestead

The Props assist the House -:
Restoring the Homestead (Part 1)
Thursday, July 15, 6-7pm

The parlor at the Homestead

 

The Props assist the House
Until the House is built
And then the Props withdraw
And adequate, erect,
The House support itself

– (fragment F729)

 

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

This program is free of charge, but participants must register in advance and donations are encouraged.
Thursday, July 15, 6-7pm
REGISTER FOR THIS PROGRAM
 
In the first of a three-part series, go behind the scenes of the restoration of Emily Dickinson’s home with Museum Director Jane Wald. The Emily Dickinson Museum is currently embarking on the most significant restoration project to date of the interior architectural features, finishes, and furnishings of the revered poet’s Homestead. This work will not only triple the amount of restored space in the Homestead accessible to guests, but will also add critical details to our understanding of Dickinson’s daily life by providing a more authentic experience of the house she inhabited. In this virtual program, learn how the documentary record yields clues about this historic house and hear first-hand about the research and decisions that go into restoration work.
 
Jane H. Wald is Executive Director of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Before beginning her tenure at the Dickinson sites in 2001, she worked at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. In her tenure at the Emily Dickinson Museum she has been led several major restoration and documentation studies of the houses, including the reconstruction of the poet’s conservatory, restoration of the poet’s bedroom and library, restoration of the Dickinson hedge and fence, and the creation of the Dickinson property Cultural Landscape Report and The Evergreens Historic Structures Report. Wald is the author of “‘Pretty much all real life’: The Material World of the Dickinson Family,” in the Blackwell Companion to Emily Dickinson (2008), and “The ‘Poet Hunters’: Transforming Emily Dickinson’s Home into a Literary Destination,” in the Emily Dickinson Journal (2018).  
Two Anenomes grow in front of the Homestead

“Bloom – is Result – to meet a Flower”: Dickinson’s Flowering Favorites with Marta McDowell
Friday, June 25, 12:30pm

Anemone grows in the garden beside the Homestead

 

 

Bloom – is Result – to meet a Flower
And casually glance
Would cause one scarcely to suspect
The minor Circumstance

Assisting in the Bright Affair
So intricately done
Then offered as a Butterfly
To the Meridian –

(Excerpt Fr1308)

This program is free of charge, but participants must register in advance and donations are encouraged. 
Register

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

In this beloved poem, Emily Dickinson ends, “To be a Flower, is profound Responsibility – “. Indeed, as the poet knelt on her red wool army blanket to tend her garden across the seasons, she understood the weight of each bloom in her hands as a miraculous force. Observing keenly the lifespan of every blossom, the weather it endured and the fauna it encountered, Dickinson transformed her garden knowledge into hundreds of poems inspired directly by her garden.

In this virtual program, join Marta McDowell, master gardener, landscape historian, and author of Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life for a close look at blooming cultivars from the Homestead in Amherst. We’ll spend an hour savoring blossoms, stories, and verse gathered from Dickinson’s gardens. Learn to identify these Dickinsonian varieties and listen to the language they inspired from our favorite garden poet.

About Marta McDowell:
Marta McDowell teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden and consults for private clients and public gardens. Her book Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life, was published in 2019. Timber Press also published The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, New York Times-bestselling All the Presidents’ Gardens, and Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, now in its seventh printing. Marta’s newest book, Unearthing The Secret Garden about author Frances Hodgson Burnett, is due out from Timber Press in September 2021. She is the 2019 recipient of the Garden Club of America’s Sarah Chapman Francis Medal for outstanding literary achievement.

To learn more about Marta or purchase her books visit www.martamcdowell.com

Headshots of Alena Smith and Martha Ackmann

A Secret told:
An Evening with Alena Smith and Martha Ackmann
Wednesday, June 30, 7pm

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Desk

Emily Dickinson is having a moment. The enigmatic poet’s popularity has surged in recent years, thanks in part to fresh interpretations and perspectives offered up by a new wave of curious and talented artists, writers, and thinkers.

We’re delighted to invite our donors to join Museum Director Jane Wald as she welcomes Alena Smith, creator of the award-winning Apple TV+ series Dickinson, and Martha Ackmann, author of These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson, to a virtual event broadcast from the Dickinson Homestead in Amherst, MA.

Enjoy a lively conversation about Emily Dickinson and her enduring legacy, while you sip on the evening’s signature cocktail:

The Bee’s Knees 

  • 2 ounces gin (for mocktail, substitute w/ 2 ounces of ginger ale)
  • 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 oz honey syrup (1 TBSP honey mixed with 1/2 TBSP warm water)

Combine ingredients and shake with ice. Strain and pour into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.  Enjoy!

This program is free to donors who’ve supported the Museum this past year. To those who have already donated, we sent an email with a complimentary registration link. 
Please contact connect@emilydickinsonmuseum.org if you need another invitation by email.
In case you are unable to attend, a recording of the event will be shared to all those who register for the program.

Not a donor, but still want to attend? You’re invited!
Become a donor today and register.

About the speakers:

Headshot for Alena SmithAlena Smith Alena Smith is a playwright and TV writer. She is the creator, showrunner and executive producer of the critically-acclaimed series “Dickinson” starring Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson, which recently aired its second season on Apple TV+, and is currently in production on its third. Dickinson won a Peabody Award in the category of Entertainment, and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy series.Smith previously served as a writer and producer for Showtime’s The Affair and HBO’s The Newsroom. Variety said of her play Icebergs, which had its world premiere in 2016 at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, “Smith shows impeccable comic timing, and also knows how to layer her drama with pathos.” Other published plays include The Bad Guys, Plucker, The Lacy Project, and The New Sincerity, which The New York Times called “Splendid… entertaining and thought-provoking… comedy with a poignant edge.”
Learn more: New Yorker

 

Headshot Martha Ackmann

Martha Ackmann is a journalist and author who writes about women who have changed America.  Her essays and columns have appeared in The New York Times, Paris Review, and The Atlantic. She also is a frequent commentator for New England Public Radio, and has been featured on CNN, National Public Radio, and the BBC. Martha’s award-winning books include The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight, Curveball: The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone, First Woman to Play Professional Baseball in the Negro League, and These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson. A long-time member of the Gender Studies Department at Mount Holyoke College, Martha taught a popular seminar on Emily Dickinson in the poet’s house, now the Emily Dickinson Museum, in Amherst, Massachusetts. 
Learn more: marthaackmann.com

 

Photo of Daisies at Emily's tombstone

Annual Poetry Walk
Saturday, May 15, 11:30am

Annual poetry walk graphic which shows an image of Emily's tombstone with text that reads "Annual Poetry Walk. Saturday, May 15, 11:30 a.m. Presented by the Emily Dickinson Museum and Mass Poetry"

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

“Called Back”: A Virtual Emily Dickinson Poetry Walk
Saturday, May 15, 11:30am ET

Days before her death in 1886, Emily Dickinson wrote her final letter, “Little Cousins, / Called Back. / Emily”. On May 15, the 135th anniversary of the poet’s death, join the Emily Dickinson Museum for an engaging virtual poetry reading and “walk” through Amherst, the town she called “paradise.”  At each stop we will see historical and contemporary images of sites of meaning for Dickinson including her garden and conservatory at the Homestead, The Evergreens — home to the poet’s brother and sister-in-law, the town common, Amherst College, and more.  Not a lecture, this program infuses place with poetry. At each stop contemporary poets share their Dickinson-inspired poems and volunteers read Dickinson’s own words aloud. The final stop is Dickinson’s grave in West Cemetery where we will share reflections and a light-hearted virtual toast! This year’s Poetry Walk is part of Mass Poetry’s 2021 Massachusetts Poetry Festival.

Registration for this program is free or by donation but it is required in advance.

A Daisy for Dickinson: Be a part of a beloved tradition of outfitting Emily Dickinson’s final resting place at Amherst’s West Cemetery with fresh daisies on the anniversary of her death.  Make a supporting donation to the Museum in honor of Emily or in memory of someone you’ve loved and lost, and we’ll place a daisy in their name at the poet’s grave as part of this year’s Poetry Walk (May 15).

We hope you enjoyed this beloved tradition of honoring Emily Dickinson on the anniversary of her death. If you would like to make a supporting gift to the Museum in honor of Emily or in memory of someone you’ve loved and lost, you may do so below.

Rewatch:

DONATE

About the participating poets:

Elizabeth Bolton has a PhD in Literacy Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She writes articles, essays and poems about the connection between writing and mental health. She grew up in northern California and now lives in Niagara Falls, Ontario with her husband and two daughters.

Lori Desrosiers’ poetry books are The Philosopher’s Daughter, Sometimes I Hear the Clock Speak, and Keeping Planes in the Air, all from Salmon Poetry. Two chapbooks, Inner Sky and Typing with e.e. cummings, are from Glass Lyre Press. She edits Naugatuck River Review, a journal of narrative poetry and Wordpeace.co, an online journal dedicated to social justice. http://loridesrosierspoetry.com

Hannah Baker Saltmarsh is the author of the poetry collection, Hysterical Water, published by The University of Georgia Press in March 2021. She has written a book of poetry criticism, entitled Male Poets and the Agon of the Mother: Contexts in Confessional and Post-confessional Poetry (Univ. of South Carolina P., 2019). She is the mother of three children, and lives with her husband in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she teaches and writes. 

Kate Godin lives in Western Massachusetts, where she tends to the writing needs of a small liberal arts college, a tween and a teen, a vigorous anxiety, and her poetry (which can be found at kategodin.com). She is a graduate of Bates College and the New School for Social Research.

Bonnie Larson Staiger is a North Dakota Associate Poet Laureate, the recipient of the ‘Poetry of the Plains and Prairies Prize (NDSU Press, 2018) and the ‘Independent Press Award: Distinguished Favorite’ (2019) for her collection, Destiny Manifested. Her second book In Plains Sight, is forthcoming from NDSU Press in 2021. www.bonniestaiger.com

Robin Long (@theotherdickinson) is a queer poet and writer from Austin. She is expanding her fiction thesis on Emily Dickinson, The Other Dickinson, and can be found at theotherdickinson.com. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, 2020 National Poetry Month Editor’s Pick, and a digital poetry performer with FEELS Zine.

Siri Palreddy is a first-year at Amherst College, hoping to study both English and Neuroscience. An avid reader, she first discovered Emily Dickinson in high school, and has loved her work ever since. Apart from poetry, Siri enjoys writing creative nonfiction and is compelled by stories that navigate one’s identity (or identities) and roots. When not reading or writing, you can find Siri spending her free time volunteering, laying in the sun, or rewatching her favorite comfort shows. https://siridhatripalreddy.wixsite.com/website-1

Peter Schmitt is the author of six books of poems. “Emily Dickinson and the Boston Red Sox” appears in his new collection, Goodbye, Apostrophe (Regal House). A graduate of Amherst and The Iowa Writers Workshop, he lives and teaches in his hometown of Miami, Florida.  

Don Skoog is a freelance musician, writer, and teacher living in Oak Park, Illinois. He plays Classical percussion and Jazz drums, as well as Latin American, Arabic, and Persian instruments. He authors books and articles on exploring culture through music—the latest, in Arabic, for The University of Chicago’s Majala magazine—and has written four novels (not all of them published yet). The poem Amherst, is from Adventures in the RhythmVerse, his first chapbook. www.contemporarymusicproject.com

Rebecca Starks is the author of the poetry collections Time Is Always Now, a finalist for the 2019 Able Muse Book Award, and Fetch, Muse (forthcoming from Able Muse Press), and is the recipient of Rattle’s 2018 Neil Postman Award for Metaphor. She lives in Richmond, Vermont.  https://rebeccastarks.com

Abigail Price is a 24 year old English poet, writer and Undergraduate student studying Criminology, Criminal Justice and Social Policy at the University of Wolverhampton in England. Most of Abigail’s work is inspired by her past and significantly, nature which aided her recovery from mental illness in her early teenage years. Abigail is an avid writer & reader and her dream is to influence social change through British politics alongside writing beautiful poetry to leave people a little bit better, than when her poems found them. https://abigailtoriprice.wixsite.com/nerve 

 

This program is co-presented with Mass Poetry. 

Mass Poetry Festival LogoThe Massachusetts Poetry Festival, a biennial event based in Boston, MA, returns May 13-16, 2021 for a virtual showcase featuring 50+ readings panels, workshops, performances and more. Find more information or register for other Festival events today at festival.masspoetry.org.

My Emily Dickinson:
Video Gallery and Story Collecting Project

In honor of Emily Dickinson’s 190th birthday in December of 2020, the Museum collected your stories from around the world. So many of us feel a deep connection to Dickinson’s life, her poetry, or to both. Some of us read her work as young students in school and become curious about the woman who lowered gingerbread from her window; others of us do not find Dickinson until we are older and her poetry’s themes of loss and hope begin to resonate profoundly; still others find that Dickinson’s wit and fierce individuality is a touchstone. This project sought to document the many Emily Dickinsons that exist in the hearts of contemporary readers. We received fifty participant videos from as close as Amherst to as far away as Albania. 

This video gallery offers a range of perspectives on Dickinson from a diverse group of her readers who generously shared their stories of strange Dickinson encounters, first meetings, and deeply felt connection. We are very grateful to these story-tellers and we hope you enjoy their collective message of Dickinson’s enduring relevance in our lives today.

 

Headshots of December poets

Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series
Thursday, December 16, 6-7pm

Phosphorescence December 2021 featured poets:
Julia Lisella and Cammy Thomas

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

This virtual program is free to attend. Registration is required. 

Register

To Emily Dickinson, phosphorescence, was a divine spark and the illuminating light behind learning — it was volatile, but transformative in nature. Produced by the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series celebrates contemporary creativity that echoes Dickinson’s own revolutionary poetic voice. The Series features established and emerging poets whose work and backgrounds represent the diversity of the flourishing contemporary poetry scene. The 2021 Series will be a virtual event to ensure the health and safety of participants. While we are disappointed not to gather together in Amherst, we are excited to connect with a global community of friends and writers.  Join us on the last Thursdays of each month to hear from poets around the world as they read their work and discuss what poetry and Dickinson mean to them.

Amherst Books is the preferred book seller for the Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series.

Phosphorescence Lineup 2021

About this month’s poets:

Headshot of poet Julia Lisella

Julia Lisella is the author of two full-length collections of poetry: Always and Terrain (both from WordTech Editions) and the chapbook, Love Song Hiroshima (Finishing Line Press, 2004).  Her poems are widely anthologized and have appeared in Ploughshares, Alaska Quarterly Review, Antiphon, Ocean State Review, Literary Mama, Salamander, Prairie Schooner, Valparaiso and many others. She has received residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, MacDowell, Millay, and Dorset colonies, and has received a number of grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to lead community poetry workshops. Her scholarship focuses on American women modernists. She is Professor of English at Regis College in Massachusetts where she teaches literature and creative writing. She co-curates the Italian American Writers in Boston Literary Series (originally in Boston’s North End and now on Zoom!). Lisella’s book, Our Lively Kingdom, was named a finalist for the Lauria/Frasca Prize and is due out from Bordighera Press in Fall 2022

Headshot of poet Cammy ThomasCammy Thomas’ first book, Cathedral of Wish, received the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America. A fellowship from the Ragdale Foundation helped her complete her second, Inscriptions. Her third collection, Tremors, is forthcoming in 2021. All are published by Four Way Books. Her work appeared recently in the anthology, Poems in the Aftermath. Two of her poems under the title Far Past War were set to music by her sister, composer Augusta Read Thomas. The premiere of this choral work will be performed by the Cathedral Choral Society at the National Cathedral in Washington DC on Oct. 17, 2021.  She lives in Lexington, Massachusetts.
cammythomas.com

Support Phosphorescence and Honor Someone Special:
Admission to all Phosphorescence events is free, but online donations, especially those made in honor or memory of family, friends, or colleagues are heartily encouraged and vital to the future of our programs. All gifts are tax deductible.

Headshots of November

Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series
Thursday, November 18, 6-7pm

Phosphorescence November 2021 featured poets:
Rosemarie Dombrowski and Resi Ibañez

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

This virtual program is free to attend. Registration is required. 
REGISTER FOR PHOSPHORESCENCE NOVEMBER 2021

To Emily Dickinson, phosphorescence, was a divine spark and the illuminating light behind learning — it was volatile, but transformative in nature. Produced by the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series celebrates contemporary creativity that echoes Dickinson’s own revolutionary poetic voice. The Series features established and emerging poets whose work and backgrounds represent the diversity of the flourishing contemporary poetry scene. The 2021 Series will be a virtual event to ensure the health and safety of participants. While we are disappointed not to gather together in Amherst, we are excited to connect with a global community of friends and writers.  Join us on the last Thursdays of each month to hear from poets around the world as they read their work and discuss what poetry and Dickinson mean to them.

Amherst Books is the preferred book seller for the Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series.

Phosphorescence Lineup 2021

About this month’s poets:

Headshot of poet Rosemarie Drombowski

Rosemarie Dombrowski is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Phoenix, AZ and the founder/director of Revisionary Arts, a nonprofit that facilitates therapeutic poetry workshops for vulnerable populations and the community at large. She’s also the founding editor of both rinky dink press (a publisher of micro-collections of micro-poetry) and The Revolution (Relaunch), an award-winning, creative resurgence of the official newspaper of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. She’s published three collections of poetry: The Book of Emergencies (2014), The Philosophy of Unclean Things (2017), and The Cleavage Planes of Southwest Minerals [A Love Story], winner of the 2017 Split Rock Review chapbook competition. Her poem, Atypical, was named a finalist for the Whitman Bicentennial Poetry Contest sponsored by Brooklyn Poets.
rosemariedombrowski.com

 

Headshot of Resi Ibañez

Resi Ibañez is a Filipinx genderqueer poet and writer based in unceded Pawtucket and Pennacook land (Lowell, MA), where Ibañez also work as a public historian and community organizer. They have been previously published in Loom Press’s Atlantic Currents: Connecting Cork and Lowell, and LOAM magazine. They have pieces forthcoming from Blue Oak Press in They Rise Like a Wave: an Anthology of Asian American Women Poets, and Marias at Sampaguitas.  They are the founder, organizer, and host of the monthly LGBTQ+ Lowell Open Mic, the first and only performance space devoted to LGBTQ+ artists in the city of Lowell (currently on hiatus because of COVID). They have also performed with the Free Soil Arts Collective, a group devoted to creating space for artists of color in the Lowell area.
patreon.com/resi_ibanez

 

Support Phosphorescence and Honor Someone Special:
Admission to all Phosphorescence events is free, but online donations, especially those made in honor or memory of family, friends, or colleagues are heartily encouraged and vital to the future of our programs. All gifts are tax deductible.

Headshots of October poets

Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series
Thursday, October 28, 6-7pm

Phosphorescence October 2021 featured poets:
Somrita Ganguly and Danielle Legros Georges

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

This virtual program is free to attend. Registration is required. 
REGISTER FOR PHOSPHORESCENCE OCTOBER 2021

To Emily Dickinson, phosphorescence, was a divine spark and the illuminating light behind learning — it was volatile, but transformative in nature. Produced by the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series celebrates contemporary creativity that echoes Dickinson’s own revolutionary poetic voice. The Series features established and emerging poets whose work and backgrounds represent the diversity of the flourishing contemporary poetry scene. The 2021 Series will be a virtual event to ensure the health and safety of participants. While we are disappointed not to gather together in Amherst, we are excited to connect with a global community of friends and writers.  Join us on the last Thursdays of each month to hear from poets around the world as they read their work and discuss what poetry and Dickinson mean to them.

Amherst Books is the preferred book seller for the Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series.

Phosphorescence Lineup 2021

About this month’s poets:

Headshot of poet Somrita Ganguly

Somrita Ganguly is an Indian professor, and award-winning poet and literary translator. She was a Fulbright Doctoral Research Fellow at Brown University, USA, and is an alumna of the University of East Anglia’s International Literary Translation and Creative Writing Summer School. Somrita is serving as a judge for the 2021 PEN America Translation Prize, and is currently Head of the Department of English, Maharaja Manindra Chandra College, University of Calcutta. Her work has been showcased at the London Book Fair, and she has read in cities like Bloomington, Bombay, Boston, Calcutta, Cove, Delhi, Hyderabad, London, Miami, Providence, and Singapore. Somrita is the editor of the first anthology of food poems, Quesadilla and Other Adventures (2019), and has translated Firesongs (2019), Shakuni: Master of the Game (2019), and The Midnight Sun: Love Lyrics and Farewell Songs (2018), among other works.
somritaurniganguly.wordpress.com

Headshot of poet Danielle Legros GeorgesDanielle Legros Georges is a writer, translator, academic, and author of several books of poetry including The Dear Remote Nearness of You, winner of the New England Poetry Club’s Sheila Margaret Motten book prize. She is a professor in and director of the Lesley University MFA program in Creative Writing, and taught in the Joiner Institute for the Study of War and Social Consequences Writer’s Workshop, at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her awards include fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Boston Foundation, and the Black Metropolis Research Consortium. She was appointed the second Poet Laureate of the city of Boston, serving in the role from 2015 to 2019, and collaborating with literary and visual artists, museums and galleries. The Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition recognized her civic work with a Champion of Artists Award in 2017. She is the editor of City of Notions: An Anthology of Contemporary Boston Poems. Her most recent work is a book of translations from the French, Island Heart: The Poems of Ida Faubert, published by Subpress Collective in 2021.
daniellelegrosgeorges.com

 

Support Phosphorescence and Honor Someone Special:
Admission to all Phosphorescence events is free, but online donations, especially those made in honor or memory of family, friends, or colleagues are heartily encouraged and vital to the future of our programs. All gifts are tax deductible.