Primary Source Spotlight: Emily Dickinson

Poet Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Dickinson seldom left home but she read a lot, exchanged letters with many people, and spent a great deal of time with her family—her sister Lavinia also lived at home her entire life and her brother Austin and his wife lived next door. Learn more about this introspective poet by investigating the resources below.

Introducing Students to Poetry through the Work of Emily Dickinson Teacher’s Corner From the Catbird Seat December 27, 2017

The complete poems of Emily Dickinson, with an introduction by her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi 1924

Emily Dickinson Poems 1890 (online exhibition item)

Emily Dickinson Slant of Light=Sesgo de Luz (online exhibition item)

Emily Dickinson historic newspaper coverage: poems & articles

Emily Dickinson, head-and-shoulders portrait image

Letter to the World (Ballet choreographed by Martha Graham) image

Emily Dickinson Marathon Reading streaming webcasts 2014/12/08

• Part 1 | transcript
• Part 2 | transcript

Sheet music from Emily Dickinson’s poems

• Aaron Copland: Nine poems of Emily Dickinson [sketches]
• Ernst Bacon
• • The banks of the Yellow Sea
  • It’s coming – the postponeless creature
  • Let down the bars
  • Wild nights
• Arthur Farwell
  • I Shall Know Why
  • Mine
  • Resurgam
  • Summer Shower
  • The Sea of Sunset

American Poetry as Cantata: Turning the Words of Dickinson, Hughes and Glück into Song In The Muse blog March 8, 2011

Emily Dickinson and the Science of Poetry Inside Adams blog June 5, 2013

Excerpt and background of “Maidenhead” (about Emily Dickinson) by poet Alice Fulton

Dear Emily Dickinson Erica Langan, 2012 Letters About Literature National Honor Winner, Level 1

Emily Dickinson brief bio & bibliography Academy of American Poets

Emily Dickinson long bio & extensive bibliography Poetry Foundation