Art by Vasti Carrion

The mermaids in the basement came out to look at me

Ink, Vasti Carrion, 2020

Instagram: @un_poeme

Featured as part of Emilytober2020 with permission from the artist

Poems by ERH

Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems

Instagram: @a_poets_perspective

Poem Text

October 1st
Emilytober Day 1

The morns are meeker than they were –
The daylight leaves in good time –
The cool breeze is our chauffer —
The leaves fall on a dime.
The fondness is familiar –
The Earth’s special redesign –
And as the world configures –
So too will I.

-E.R.H.

October 2nd
Emilytober Day 2

Best Witchcraft is geometry
From the outside looking in –
Are intangible possibilities of –
Both wickedness and greatness.

-E.R.H.

Featured as part of Emilytober2020 with permission from the poet

The words 'Emilytober' and '#artober' sit above a marker drawing of a mushroom with a red cap with white polkadots and a smile on its stalk, with a little elf dressed like Santa Clause watering it and a small red heart beside them. Below are the words 'Day 3: The mushroom is the elf of plants'

Art by Brianna Lamb

A marker drawing of an orange maple leaf wearing a rainbow scarf around its stem, with the words Emilytober #Artober above it and the words Day 1: "The Maple wears a gayer scarf", below — Inspired by poem F32, 'The maple wears a gayer scarf –'

A marker drawing of an open book, the pages of which are a blue sea with a brown ship sailing in it, with the words: Emilytober, #Artober, Day 5: "There is no frigate like a book", below — Inspired by poem F1286, 'There is no Frigate like a Book'

A marker and pencil drawing of a spider knitting and sitting in a spiderweb, in which reads the text 'Alterations and Repairs', with a small purple 'open' flag flying off of the edge of the web, all against a backdrop of a night sky. Beside is the text, 'Emilytober #artober Day 14: A spider sewed at night' — Inspired by poem F1163, 'A Spider sewed at Night'

Art by Brianna Lamb

Marker and pencil, Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems, 2020

Instagram: @bri_the_librarian

Featured as part of Emilytober2020 with permission from the artist

A pen and ink drawing of a brick arch looking into a garden, in which stands a solitary gold statue. In the foreground there are two bare trees and some greenery. Below is the text "One need not be a chamber - to be haunted, -Emily Dickinson"

Art by Jean Sanders

A pen and ink drawing of a small white boat by a yellow dock, the water in a vivid purple. Below there is text that reads "Where ships of purple gently toss, -Emily Dickinson" — Inspired by poem F296, 'Where ships of purple gently toss'

A pen and ink drawing of a martini with three olives on a counter, the background in a vivid indigo, with the text "Bring me the sunset in a cup -, - Emily Dickinson" below — Inspired by poem F140, 'Bring me the sunset in a cup –'

A pen and ink drawing of six bare dressmaker's dummies crowded together in a room with pink and blue walls, with the text "The Mermaids in the Basement Came out to look at me -, - Emily Dickinson" below — Inspired by poem F656, 'The Mermaids in the Basement Came out to look at me –'

A pen and ink drawing of three cows standing in a field of grass, looking at the camera. The leftmost cow is blue, the other two are pink and orange. Below is the text "Those cows smaller than a Bee -, -Emily Dickinson" — Inspired by F1393, 'Those Cattle smaller than a Bee'

A pen and ink drawing of several glasses beside two bottles of alcohol, with a vividly blue background. Below is the text "Buccaneers of Buzz - , - Emily Dickinson" — Inspired by poem F1426, 'Buccaneers of Buzz –'

Art by Jean Sanders

Pen and ink, Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems, 2020

http://jean-sanders-illustration.com/
Instagram: @jeanbeans

Featured as part of Emilytober2020 with permission from the artist

A five-panel comic in sharpie and watercolor, with the title "Autumn" over the top. The first panel is of a maple tree with a scarf tied around its trunk, a halo of light behind it, and the text "The Maples wears a gayer scarf,". The second panel shows a red gown, haloed in light, laying on top of a field of grass, with the text "The field a scarlet gown." below. The third panel is a drawing of Emily Dickinson, with the text "Lest I should be old-fashioned," above. The fourth panel is a closer drawing of ED, wearing a crown haloed by light, and the text "I'll put a trinket on." above. The last panel is Emily, in her crown, seated between the field and the maple tree. She is saying "We look gooooood".

Art by Grace Kinser

A watercolor painting of a series of circles overlapping horizontally in, from left to right, black ,brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and black again. A series of line-drawings of diamonds in the same colors are overlayed on top. — Inspired by poem F1158, 'Best Witchcraft is Geometry'

Art by Grace Kinser

Watercolor and sharpie, Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems, 2020

Instagram: @grkinser

Featured as part of Emilytober2020 with permission from the artist

A colorful collage - Emily is sitting inside a tulip from which many multicolored vinelike lines of color are sprouting

Art by Jennifer Black

A mixed media collage. A photo in black and white has the person photographed cut out of it. A hand with "L O N E" tattooed across the knuckles holds the photo, and flowers adorn it underneath. — Inspired by poem F407, 'One need not be a Chamber – to be Haunted'

A mixed media collage featuring a woman on the left and then a man encircled by yellow paper. The paper has this text along the edge: "whatever form of words this promise is given, he is not bound." — Inspired by poem F1402, 'His Heart was darker than the starless night'

A colorful mixed media collage featuring a vintage image of a woman holding a record, flowers, a page from what appears to be a heavily notated planner, and a Canadian stamp. — Inspired by poem F168, 'Ah, Necromancy Sweet!'

A mixed media collage utlizing colored paper, and a vintage image of two women labeled "Irene & Lillian" — Inspired by poem F1747, 'That Love is all there is Is all we know of Love,'

A collage featuring a woman in black and white, sitting on her ankles above the word "thought.". Above the woman, a cloud in grayscale emits a bright yellow lightning bolt. — Inspired by poem F796, 'The Lightning showed a Yellow Beak And then a livid Claw –'

A collage, pen, and watercolor image of Emily Dickinson in a blue dress looking at her reflection in a lake in a forest. The tree bark is comprised of manuscript pages, and monarch butterflies fly in the foreground. The text "I'm Nobody - Who are you?" is layered on top in cut-out letters. — Inspired by poem F260, 'I’m Nobody! Who are you?'

Art by Jennifer Black

Mixed media, Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems, 2020

Instagram: @twicetoldstudio

Featured as part of Emilytober2020 with permission from the artist

An image of Emily is collaged with music, text, a landscape of pine trees and gold edging to form wings behind her

Art by Nuala O’Connor

Poem F510 Upholsterer of the Pines – is He –

Mixed media, Nuala O’Connor, 2020

http://nualaoconnor.com/
Twitter: @NualaNiC

Featured as part of Emilytober2020 with permission from the artist

A swirling collage of images of spiderwebs, lines from ED poem 'A spider sews at night', images of books, and pieces of lace and string form an intricate web

Art by Bascove

Emily Wore White: Dickinson’s A Spider Sewed at Night

Mixed media, Bascove, 2017

Bascove.com

https://www.instagram.com/bascove/

Featured as part of Emilytober2020 with permission from the artist

Past Virtual Programs Archive

Missed an online program? No fear! Rewatch a selection of archived programs below.

Phosphorescence - Diane Seuss, Jane Huffman, and Molly Akin - Emily Dickinson Museum

Poetry Masterclass with Oliver de La Paz — Generative Writing Workshop

Open Mic Night 2024 - Emily Dickinson Museum

Margaret Maher and The Celtification of Emily Dickinson

Dialogues with the Non-Human - Emily Dickinson Museum

Poetry, Spirituality, and New Forms of Attention - Emily Dickinson Museum

Poets of the Public: New England Poet Laureates - Emily Dickinson Museum

Book Launch: The Letters of Emily Dickinson

Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series: June 2023 [Ocean Vuong, Joseph Fritsch, and Yanyi]

Behind the Scenes at the Emily Dickinson Museum Collections Warehouse

Everyday Discoveries at the Emily Dickinson Museum Collections Warehouse

Duties beautifully done: Dickinson's 193rd Birthday Celebration

Late Night Garden Party with Marilyn Nelson and Abigail Chabitnoy - Emily Dickinson Museum

Writing Poetry for Children, Teens, & Adults - Emily Dickinson Museum

The Angle of a Landscape: An Indigenous Poetics Panel - Emily Dickinson Museum

EMILYTOBER: A collection of prompts for Artober

#Emilytober Prompt List – Be Inspired, October 1st – 31st!

Artists wrestled here!
Lo, a tint Cashmere!
Lo, a Rose!
Student of the Year!
For the Easel here,
Say Repose!

-F111

Since 2009, artists from all over the world have chosen to spend October participating in challenges based on lists of prompts put together by other artists and institutions. Some make a piece of work every day, some every other day, and others are happy to simply take inspiration from all the lists floating around. We’re so excited to be participating in this year’s #Artober by releasing our own list of prompts consisting of phrases from Dickinson poems! We encourage you to pick and choose from the prompts, to work from either the lines we’ve provided or from the whole poems from which they’ve been plucked, and to create in any medium you desire. We look forward to seeing what you create—make sure to tag us on social media so we catch your work! You can tag your pieces with #artober2020, #emilytober, and @emilydickinson.museum. We’ll share our favorites from our instagram account, and feature some of them here on our website!

Update! The #Emilytober Gallery is live!
Check out all the fantastic work here!

Emilytober #Artober Prompt List, 2020

Full text of each prompt, in order, with Franklin edition reference numbers

F32 The maple wears a gayer scarf –
F1158 Best Witchcraft is Geometry
F1350 The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants –
F168 Ah, Necromancy Sweet!
F1286 There is no Frigate like a Book
F407 One need not be a Chamber – to be Haunted
F796 The Lightning showed a Yellow Beak And then a livid Claw –
F111 Artists wrestled here!
F1268 A Word dropped careless on a Page
F1199 For Captain was the Butterfly
F1163 A Spider sewed at Night
F166 Dust is the only Secret.
F260 I’m Nobody! Who are you?
F1393 Those Cattle smaller than a Bee
F656 the Mermaids in the Basement/Came out to look at me –
F1426 Buccaneers of Buzz –
F140 Bring me the sunset in a cup –
F1394 The long sigh of the Frog
F916 Or Porch of Gnome
F918 We met as Sparks – Diverging Flints
F479 The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality.
F162 From some old Fortress on the sun
F1311 Art thou the thing I wanted?
F1489 A Route of Evanescence,
F296 Where ships of purple gently toss
F1649 Back from the Cordial Grave I drag thee
F1402 His Heart was darker than the starless night
F1405 The absence of the Witch does not Invalidate the spell –
F200 The Rose did caper on her cheek –
F89 Imps in eager caucus
F710 Where Squirrels play – and Berries dye – And Hemlocks – bow – to God
F43 The Satyrs fingers beckoned
F1747 That Love is all there is/Is all we know of Love,
F509 A curious Cloud surprised the Sky
F510 Upholsterer of the Pines – is He –

The mermaids in the basement came out to look at me

Ink, Vasti Carrion, 2020

Poems by ERH

Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems

Poem Text

Art by Brianna Lamb

Marker and pencil, Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems, 2020

Art by Jean Sanders

Pen and ink, Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems, 2020

Art by Grace Kinser

Watercolor and sharpie, Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems, 2020

Art by Jennifer Black

Mixed media, Inspired by various Emily Dickinson poems, 2020

Poem F510 Upholsterer of the Pines – is He –

Mixed media, Nuala O’Connor, 2020

Emily Wore White: Dickinson’s A Spider Sewed at Night

Mixed media, Bascove, 2017

Artists wrestled here! Lo, a tint Cashmere! Lo, a Rose! Student of the Year! For the Easel here, Say Repose!

-F111

Update! The #Emilytober Gallery is live! Check out all the fantastic work here!

Emilytober #Artober Prompt List, 2020

Full text of each prompt, in order, with Franklin edition reference numbers

Artists wrestled here!
Lo, a tint Cashmere!
Lo, a Rose!
Student of the Year!
For the Easel here,
Say Repose!

Update! The #Emilytober Gallery is live!
Check out all the fantastic work here!