

We know, for example, that she was interested in publishing her poems, but that she wasn't a shameless self-promoter like some poets we could mention (looking at you, Mr. Okay, so that might be a slight exaggeration, but Dickinson's letters are how we know so much about her life today. The reality, though, was that she enjoyed a lot of relationships, which she maintained by writing approximately… 60 million letters. This fact has led a lot of folks to paint Dickinson as a reclusive spinster, hiding up in her room all day like some kind of nineteenth-century Howard Hughes with Kleenex boxes for slippers. She returned home to live with her family, where she pretty much stayed until she died-no husband, no all-inclusive cruise trips, not even so much as a long weekend in the Poconos. In fact, Dickinson left school after just one year at Mount Holyoke Seminary. Dickinson was down with G-o-d, but she was more interested in something else: poetry. That was particularly the case when it came to religion-which was a big part of schooling back in her day. She wasn't rude she simply didn't follow the herd. She did well in school, but she also developed a reputation for rebelliousness. On the plus side, she did enjoy the benefits of a good education. Given his domineering drive and, it has to be said, Emily's gender, she was quickly overshadowed. She was born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts to a father who was an aspiring community leader and politician. Like so many folks who earn the label of "genius," Dickinson had to kick the bucket before her work was truly appreciated-or even published for that matter. Regardless of where they stand on the question, one thing is certain: Dickinson is one of the giants of American poetry, a figure who did her own thing-both in life and in her poems. That's the kind of debate prompt that has poetry critics taking sides and cracking their knuckles over their laptops. Hope is the thing with feathers IntroductionĮmily Dickinson: reclusive genius or overrated shut-in?
