The Emily Dickinson Museum’s Annual Tell It Slant Poetry Festival is an event with international reach that celebrates Emily Dickinson’s poetic legacy and the contemporary creativity she and her work continues to inspire from the place she called home.

The Festival 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. Festival organizers are committed to featuring established and emerging poets who represent the diversity of the contemporary poetry landscape and to fostering community by placing poetry in the public sphere.

This year’s line-up features workshops, panels, and readings, by a diverse and talented group of poets from around the world including Marilyn Nelson and Abigail Chabitnoy. The cornerstone of the Festival, the Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon, is an epic reading of all 1,789 of Emily Dickinson’s poems.

Schedule of Events:

September 25, 2023:

6:00pm: Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon: Part 1 - Virtual

September 26, 2023:

12:00pm: Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon: Part 2 - Virtual

6:30pm: “The Brain is wider than the Sky”: Digital Dickinson Resources for Educators and Readers - Virtual

September 27, 2023:

12:00pm: Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon: Part 3 - Virtual

6:30pm: “The Angle of a Landscape”: An Indigenous Poetics Panel - Virtual

September 28, 2023:

9:00am: Creating A Collaborative Poem - In-Person / High School Partner Program

12:00pm: Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon: Part 4 - Virtual

6:00pm: Phosphorescence Poetry Reading: Festival Edition with The Common - Virtual

September 29, 2023:

9:00am: Creating A Collaborative Poem - In-person / High School Partner Program

12:00pm: Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon: Part 5 - Virtual

6:30pm: Tell It Slant Awards Night: Honoring Marilyn Nelson, Alena Smith, Founders of the Emily Dickinson Museum - Hybrid

September 30, 2023:

9:00am: Spectacular Translation Machine - In-person

9:30am: Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon: Part 6 - Hybrid

1:00pm: Dickinson Creator’s Screening with Alena Smith - Hybrid

3:30pm: Displaced: A Poetry Reading and Conversation with Faraday Press and Umass Museum of Contemporary Art - In-person

7:00pm: Late Night Garden Party with Headliners Marilyn Nelson and Abigail Chabitnoy - Hybrid

October 1, 2023:

10:00am: Poetry Masterclass with Abigail Chabitnoy at the Mead Art Museum - In-person

11:00am: Spectacular Translation Machine - In-person

12:30pm: Writing Poetry for Children, Teens, and Adults: Commonalities and Differences - Hybrid

3:00pm: Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon: Grand Finale - Hybrid

Dates: September 25, 2023 - October 1, 2023

Location:

The Emily Dickinson Museum,
280 Main Street,
Amherst, MA 01002.

Register Here

Click here for more information.