A Christmas tree in the Evergreens

A Dickensian Christmas with the Dickinsons

Date: December 19, 2015
Time: 11AM, 1PM, 2PM
Cost: $20 adults; $10 museum members; $5 for students grades K-12.

On this special family-friendly visit, revel in holiday traditions as we trace the history of Christmas celebrations in the two Dickinson households. A Museum guide will serve as your host for this unique exploration through the Homestead and The Evergreens. Evocative decorations, seasonal music, and new objects on exhibit will delight your holiday senses, and the words of Emily Dickinson and her family will bring their Christmas experiences to life. Each visit concludes with an intimate reading in The Evergreens from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol by award-winning author and Dickens fan Tony Abbott!Read more

Emily Dickinson's famous coconut cake

Emily Dickinson’s Birthday Celebration and Open House

Date: December 12, 2015
Time: 1-4PM
Location: The Emily Dickinson Museum, 280 Main Street, Amherst MA

The 185th birthday of the poet coincides with the completion of the bedroom restoration at the Emily Dickinson Museum. On December 12 join us from 1PM-4PM to celebrate with an open house at the Museum. All are welcome and no admission fee or reservations required.Read more

The Homestead's cupola and the moon

Amherst Art Walk Poetry Night with Tom Daley

Date: February 8, 2019
Time: 5 – 8 p.m.
Location: Homestead Parlor

The Emily Dickinson Museum hosts poet Tom Daley for our monthly Amherst Art Walk poetry night from 5 to 8 pm. Daley will read from his new collection, House You Cannot Reach-Poems in the Voice of My Mother and Other Poems, beginning at 6:45 pm in the Homestead parlor. $5 “Twilight Highlight” tours of the Homestead will also be offered from 5 to 6:30 pm.

Tom Daley was last at the Museum for the 2014 Amherst Poetry Festival, where he performed his Dickinson-themed play Every Broom and Bridget. A machinist for over two decades, Daley now leads writing workshops in the Boston area and online. Recipient of the Dana Award in Poetry and the Charles and Fanny Fay Wood Prize from the Academy of American Poets, his poetry has appeared in Harvard Review, Massachusetts Review, Fence, Denver Quarterly, Crazyhorse, Barrow Street, Prairie Schooner, Witness, and Poetry Ireland Review.

The Evergeens house in winter with snow on the ground

Poetry Discussion Group 2015-2016

Third Fridays, noon – 2 p.m.
September through May (No meeting in December)

The Emily Dickinson Museum’s Poetry Discussion group meets on the 3rd Friday of each month from September through May (except for December) for lively conversation about Emily Dickinson’s poetry and letters. Featured facilitators each month offer fresh perspectives on Dickinson’s poetry.

Location: The Poetry Discussion Group meets at the Center for Humanistic Inquiry, on the second floor of Frost Library. Attendees are welcome to bring a bag lunch; beverages and a sweet snack are provided.

Fee: The fee for Museum members is $12/session; the fee for non-members is $15/session. Season subscriptions are $75 for Museum members and $100 for non-members. To become a Friend of the Emily Dickinson Museum and enjoy member discounts, click here.

For more information, contact the Program Department: edmprograms@emilydickinsonmuseum.org or call (413) 542-2034.Read more

The Aspect of the Place Poster

The Aspect of the Place: A Halloween Happening at The Evergreens

Wednesday-Sunday, October 28-November 1, 2015
Shows at 6:30PM and 8:00PM

One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted —
-Emily Dickinson

the past hath its phantoms,
More real than solid earth
-Isabella Banks

Get into the spirit of Halloween with this story-telling celebration of ghosts and all things Gothic at The Evergreens. Co-produced by The Emily Dickinson Museum & TheatreTruck, a roving collaborative, The Aspect of the Place takes the audience through The Evergreens, the home of Austin Dickinson’s family and a ‘time capsule’ of prosperous nineteenth-century life in a small New England town. The house is furnished with Dickinson family furniture, household accoutrements, and decor selected and displayed by the family during the nineteenth century. The piece honors the House, the spooky delights of Victorian ghost stories, and the idea that phantoms walk within. ​

TheatreTruck and the Emily Dickinson Museum partnered this summer to produce a sold-out run of The Emily Dickinson Project, attracting audiences from all over the Pioneer Valley, the nation and even the UK! TheatreTruck is dedicated to crafting mobile and site-specific performance sustainably & playfully, and the museum is delighted to partner with them.

Each performance lasts one hour.

Teachers at the Emily Dickinson museum

Teacher Tuesday

Date: October 20, 2015

Time: 4-6PM

Location: Emily Dickinson Museum

280 Main Street, Amherst, MA

The Emily Dickinson Museum’s first Teacher Tuesday takes place Tuesday, October 20, from 4 to 6 pm. All educators are invited to this free program where you’ll have the run of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Make an herbarium, read or write in Emily’s bedroom, try your hand at our reverse scavenger hunt, and enjoy some gingerbread and cider. Whether you teach American Literature, Visual Arts, or Science – there’s something for you here. Come get to know us a little better and let the museum inspire your next project with your students. We hope you’ll join us!

This is a free program and no RSVP is required. Participants are welcome to come for any portion of the program they’re able.

A Letter from Dickinson to Mrs. Ward

Before You Became Improbable

An immersive journey through the Dickinson-Higginson correspondence

Dates: September 17-19 and 24-26

Location: Begins and ends at The Emily Dickinson Museum, downtown Amherst

“A unique, phenomenal, and deeply treasured experience.”

— Len Berkman, Smith College Professor of Theater

It took eight years of correspondence before T.W. Higginson arrived in Amherst to meet his elusive advisee, Emily Dickinson. Before You Became Improbable reimagines the day of that meeting, offering audience members an encounter with her words and poems in a remarkably personal theatrical experience. This immersive journey returns to the Emily Dickinson Museum in September after a sold-out 2014 run.Read more

The Free fun Fridays poster

Free Fun Fridays

August 21, 2015
10 am – 5 pm

sponsored by the Highland Street Foundation

Join us for Free Fun Fridays at the Emily Dickinson Museum on Friday, August 21! Sponsored by the Highland Street Foundation, this annual summer program opens doors at no cost to visitors at many of the most treasured cultural venues in Massachusetts. This year, 70 museums and cultural venues are participating. Read on for tips on how to make your Free Fun Friday at the Emily Dickinson Museum the most fun possible!Read more

The Schedule for the Circus

“Creatures of Bliss and Mystery” A 19th Century Children’s Circus

Time: Saturday, July 18, 2015 1-4 p.m.
Location:
Emily Dickinson Museum lawn (in case of rain, most actitivities will take place indoor at First Congregational Church, across the street from the Museum at 165 Main Street)
Fee: $5 for families, EDM Members/Families FREE. Activity fees where noted below.

The Circus is coming to the museum grounds!  On Saturday, July 18, the Emily Dickinson Museum will present its annual “Creatures of Bliss and Mystery: A 19th-Century Children’s Circus,” from 1 to 4 pm on the Emily Dickinson Museum lawn. Especially perfect for children ages 3 to 10 (accompanied by adults), this event is open to the public and $5 for families and FREE for EDM Members.Read more