We're excited to launch our second episode of Politics and Poetry, a new podcast about the power of poetry to engage us in political conversations. Join three generations of political activists and poetry lovers as we read and share a curated collection of ideas written by critics, reporters, authors, poets, historians and politicians to spur thoughtful discussion about the ways that poetry and politics intersect. In this month's episode, we're featuring Emily Dickinson, one America's favorite poets, and one of our favorite poets, whom we believe was an activist for truth. Join us as we explore the ways in which Emily Dickinson uses metaphors, pauses, punctuation, and radical empathetic thinking to capture our interest and prompt questions about the meaning of life--what we know, and knowing what we don't know.

References

Biography. (n.d.). Emily Dickinson museum. https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/

Budick, E. (1979). When the soul selects: Emily Dickinson's attack on New England symbolism. American Literature, 51(3), 349-363. https://doi.org/10.2307/2925390

Dickinson, E. (1958). Selected letters, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Belknap Press.

Emily Dickinson: Poet and Recluse. (n.d.). Hermitary. Retrieved February 9, 2021, from https://www.hermitary.com/articles/dickinson.html

Finch, A. (1987). Dickinson and patriarchal meter: A theory of metrical codes. PMLA, 102(2), 166-176. https://doi.org/10.2307/462545

Howard, J. (2019). Much madness is divinest sense - summary & analysis. LitCharts. https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/emily-dickinson/much-madness-is-divinest-sense

Karra, A. (2014). Emily Dickinson, “We never know how high we are” (1176). Rethink. http://www.ashokkarra.com/2014/02/emily-dickinson-we-never-know-how-high-we-are-1176/

Lambert, M. (2019). Tell it slant: Modern women writers reflect on Emily Dickinson's influence. The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/tell-it-slant-modern-women-writers-emily-dickinson-appletv-1250744

Larkin, D. (2017). Emily Dickinson was less reclusive than we think. Hyperallergic. https://hyperallergic.com/372801/emily-dickinson-was-less-reclusive-than-we-think/

Prahl, A. (2019). Biography of Emily Dickinson, American poet. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/emily-dickinson-4772610

Robinson, M. (2017). Marilynne Robinson on finding the right word. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/books/review/marilynne-robinson-on-finding-the-right-word.html

Strong, M. (n.d.). The poetry of Emily Dickinson. Digital Public Library of America. https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-poetry-of-emily-dickinson

Vendler, H. (2010). Dickinson: Selected poems and commentaries. Belknap Press.

Wolff, C. (1989). Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the task of discovering a usable past. The Massachusetts Review, 30(4), 629-644. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25090122

THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON: READING EDITION, edited by Ralph W. Franklin, Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1998, 1999 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © 1951, 1955 , by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © 1914, 1918, 1924, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1935, 1937, 1942 by Martha Dickinson Bianchi. Copyright © 1952, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1965 by Mary L. Hampson.

Source: The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998)

Visit the Emily Dickinson Museum website at https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/ to learn more about Emily Dickinson!