Why are we here?

   After reading Emily Dickinson on my own for nearly twenty years, I traveled to Amherst, Massachusetts for the first time in the spring of 2008. There I joined the Emily Dickinson Museum's annual Poetry Walk, which visits places of significance in the poet's life, as people hear poetry and commentary on her life and times. Continuing to participate in this and other annual events such as the Poetry Marathon, where all 1789  poems are read over the course of a day or so, as well as participating in conferences of the Emily Dickinson International Society, I realize that Amherst is a place of especially rich resources for anyone striving to appreciate the poet more fully. Authors and Dickinson scholars regularly contribute to these events. Discussing the poems with other readers is the most rewarding way of deepening one's appreciation of the poetry, but abiding in Amherst is not an option for most people. This blog will be my way of sharing these rich resources with others .


   This blog will contain summaries and notes on discussions of Emily Dickinson's poetry taken from three separate and regularly running groups, in which I participate. (Numbers 1 and 3 below do not meet during the summer months). Participants are mostly well-steeped in the poetry of The Belle of Amherst, but newcomers are always welcome.

1. The Emily Dickinson Museum Poetry Discussion Group (EDMDG), Amherst, MA

2. The Emily Dickinson International Society, Amherst, MA Chapter, (EDIS-MA) Poetry Discussion

3. The Emily Dickinson Reading Circle (EDRC), Heath, MA

Next discussion: EDIS-MA, July 17th