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Date: 8/29/2023
AMHERST — A reading by distinguished New England Poet Marilyn Nelson will be just part of the program for the Tell It Slant Poetry Festival which runs online and on site at the Emily Dickinson Museum Sep. 25 through Oct. 1.
The festival, hosted annually in September, is named for Dickinson’s poem, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” underscoring the revolutionary power of poetry to shift our perspective and reveal new truths.
Nelson, a former Poet Laureate of Connecticut and Professor Emeritus of English at The University of Connecticut, will also be honored during the festival along with award winning Indigenous poet Abigail Chabitnoy. Alena Smith — creator of the Apple TV+ series “Dickenson” — and the core founders of the museum itself will be recognized as the site celebrates its 20th year.
Now in its 11th year officially, the festival, which actually dates back even longer to a grass roots tradition of the Emily Dickenson Poetry Marathon, is now a full weeklong series of poetry related events and readings.
The poetry marathon is now a cornerstone of the festival and features group readings of all 1,789 of Emily Dickenson’s poems.
Museum Communications Director Patrick Fecher said in the beginning that marathon actually took place all in one sitting.
“People would show up in the morning and would leave pretty much past nightfall,” he said. “I think it would take 14 to 16 hours but luckily now we split it up into seven sessions across all seven days of the festival.”
Fecher also said the coronavirus pandemic changed how the museum itself was structured and the festival along with it.
“Before the pandemic we were very much focused on regional tourism and bringing on people on site but we were forced to pivot into this virtual programming and we found extreme success with doing that because there are still many Emily Dickenson fans not just in New England but around the globe,” he said.
Fecher said the festival brings an international spotlight to the museum each year.
“For the past three years, we’ve done it online and each year we’ve had participants from 60 or 70 different countries,” he said.
Festivals in past years have featured U.S. Poet Laureates including Tracy K. Smith and Pulitzer Prize winner Jericho Brown and notable music performances.
Panels and workshops are also part of the weeklong events along with annual marquee events such as the late-night garden party, a program which unfolds in Dickenson’s Garden on the museum property.
The festival is sponsored by PeoplesBank, the Mass Cultural Council and donations from museum supporters.
Information on the festival calendar and how to register can be found at emilydickesonmuseum.org.