Genius, Gender and Genre: Emily Dickinson and her Contemporaries, a talk by Prof. Ivy Schweitzer

Ivy Schweitzer, Professor of English and of Women's and Gender Studies at Dartmouth College, will talk about Emily Dickinson in the context of other female poets of the time, a context that reveals, according to many critics (though this is still under contention), that she was not the solitary genius we have made her out to be nor was she the only woman writing great or interesting or innovative poetry at the time.

This context also sheds light on why she choose not to publish her poems but to "self-publish" in the fascicles found in the bureau after her death (and promptly dismantled by her editors!). Ivy Schweitzer will read some of Dickinson’s poetry alongside other poetry by women poets and will discuss the climate for women poets publishing at the time.

The talk is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Lebanon Public Libraries and Howe Library and is part of the the Big Read series about Emily Dickinson, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. Other programs in the series are taking place at the Lebanon Public Libraries, the Lebanon Opera House and AVA Gallery in Lebanon.

Date: March 25, 2010
Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Mayer Room