Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417
AMHERST, Mass.—The Dickinson Homestead has just published Emily Dickinson: The Poet at Home, a visitor’s guide to the poet, her home and the world in which she lived. The Poet at Home includes a fold-out map of Dickinson sites in the town of Amherst, many historic photographs and drawings, and three informative essays.
Karen Sanchez-Eppler, an associate professor of American Studies and English at Amherst College, traces the life of the poet. “To live is so startling,” Dickinson wrote, and Sanchez-Eppler’s essay demonstrates how Dickinson’s reclusive life offered startling opportunities for feeling, thought and the arduous work of poetry. Christopher Benfey, professor of English at Mount Holyoke College, where Dickinson studied, writes about her poetry, stressing the “possibility” that she found in her work. David Dillon, an Amherst resident who is the architecture critic of the Dallas Morning News and an admirer of Dickinson, presents an architectural history of the Homestead, showing it to be “a palimpsest of changing architectural styles as revealed in a small New England house over nearly two centuries.”
Experienced Dickinson scholars will find something of interest in The Poet at Home, and the guide will enhance the experience of newcomers to the poet who visit the Homestead. The book will be available for $5 at the Homestead, at local bookstores and by mail. (Add $2 for shipping and handling.)
The Dickinson Homestead opens to the public on Saturday, March 3. The Homestead’s days and hours of operation change seasonally. In March, the Homestead is open Wednesday and Saturday with tours on the hour from 1 to 4 p.m. (last tour at 4 p.m.). Beginning in April, the Homestead is open Wednesday through Saturday, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Reservations are recommended for tours, especially on Saturdays, and may be made by calling 413/542-8161. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors/students, $3 for young people ages 6 to 18, and no charge for children under 6 or for students currently enrolled at one of the Five Colleges.
For more information, please call the Homestead at 413/542-8161, or visit the Homestead’s Website at http://www.amherst.edu/~edhouse . The Homestead is a National Historic Landmark owned by the Trustees of Amherst College.
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