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Published by HarperCollins

(Publication date March 1, 2009)

Quotations

“Don't let your free spirit
be chained.”


“I told my Soul to sing!”


“There is always one thing to
be grateful for, that one is one's
self & not somebody else.”

Illustration by Janet Shelby, Artist ©Morning Glory Greetings, Grand Rapids, MI. Used with permission.

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On writing “A VOICE OF HER OWN:
Becoming Emily Dickinson”

My idea was to write a book where the reader could experience what it might have been like to grow up as the famous poet. I had already written a book about the young Joan of Arc (Young Joan, HarperCollins Publishers, 1991) and decided to follow the same basic process. Being an actor as well as a writer, I had approached the writing of Young Joan in much the same way as I approach an acting role. I had played Joan of Arc twice, so I already had done much of my research. I would embark on my research for this book about Emily in a similar manner.

Emily grew up in the mid1880s. What did she wear? What did she eat? What was her house like? Her town? I must learn about the religious expression of the period, the transportation, school life, hobbies, furniture, plumbing, medicine, habits, customs and on and on. How was it different then? And equally important - how was it the same? My acting teacher, Uta Hagen, stressed these two questions equally. Exploring how we are like people from other centuries and other countries helps us feel closer to them. The answers to the second question (how was it the same?) are similar for most periods of time and in most countries. Young girls have birthdays, get their periods, have crushes, girlfriends, parents, siblings, relatives, pets, holidays, colds, moods, fears, joys, boyfriends, etc. I didn't have to research the similarities, but the differences were another matter. My work took several forms.
I did a lot of reading. Biographies, reminiscences, essays, books about 19th century New England, etc. all added to my understanding of this extraordinary wren-like woman of boundless magnitude.

Emily was a prolific letter writer. The Letters of Emily Dickinson (edited by Thomas H. Johnson, The Bellnap Press of Harvard University Press) contains over one thousand letters written from the age of eleven until a few days before her death. It is an extraordinary resource for immersing oneself in the poet's voice. Not only did I read the letters, over and over for several years, I also spent endless hours listening to a two-tape set of readings of the letters and poems by my idol, Julie Harris. Julie “got” Emily in my opinion. Hearing her speak Emily's words was an invaluable gift.

I spent a great deal of time in Amherst. The Emily Dickinson Museum (www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org ) became my second home. The museum includes the Homestead, where Emily was born, lived for most of her life, and where she died. I spent many hours in her bedroom, her parlor and her garden. The house in which Emily lived during most of the story of this book no longer exists. It has been irreverently replaced by a Mobil gas station! I checked it out though. The cemetery Emily used to see from her window is just behind the gas pumps. Emily, her mother, father and Lavinia are buried there. Her gravestone says, Called Back.

It was interesting to visit Amherst in all seasons, exploring, taking pictures and making notes in the heat of summer, the joy of spring, the grandeur of fall, and the snow of winter. I walked Emily's walk to school at Amherst Academy. (The location is now a parking lot with a plaque stating that the school used to be there). I walked her walk to church and along the road she so often walked with her dog, Carlo. I visited Mount Holyoke College (Mount Holyoke Seminary in Emily's time). I felt like a detective, searching for the truth, a grand adventure!

I spent days in the archives at the Jones Library in Amherst, pouring over endless bits of material including letters written by Emily's father, sermons delivered by her adored Reverend Charles Wadsworth, prescriptions ordered from the local pharmacy for the Dickinson family, records of the eye doctor in Boston who treated Emily for a mysterious eye condition, articles on tuberculosis, Brights disease, hypertension, conditions of the eyes, lupis, anxiety disorders and depression. Best of all, I held an original copy of one of her poems, We play at Paste/ Till qualified for Pearl (Fr282). At the Frost Library at Amherst College I held her Latin book (a gift from Austin, shared with Abby) and saw a lock of her hair. It was like spun gold. At Harvard University I saw her bureau, the one in which she kept her poems, a sampler she made when she was ten, her piano, and her tiny writing desk. That was a surprise. How could a desk so small launch that grand outpouring of poems?

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of my research was my investigation into the habits, appearance and history of Newfoundland dogs. I got an added sense of Emily's spunk, knowing that her constant companion for sixteen long years had been such an enormous bear-like creature.

My work ended up taking nearly ten years. I hadn't expected it to take that long. And I hadn't expected to have such a deep relationship with Emily. I know without a doubt that she will be with me for the rest of my life, and perhaps beyond. As Emily would say - did say - “This life is not conclusion”.

*

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT EMILY

1. The Poems of Emily Dickinson, ed. R.W. Franklin, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England, 1999.
2. The Letters of Emily Dickinson, ed. Thomas H. Johnson, The Bellnap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England, 1986.
3. The Life of Emily Dickinson, Richard B. Sewall, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (paperback edition 1994)
4. My Wars are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson, Alfred Habegger, Random House/New York, 2001.
5. Emily Dickinson: Selected Letters, ed. Thomas H. Johnson, The Bellnap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England, 1986.
6. The World of Emily Dickinson, Polly Longsworth, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, London, 1990.
7. The Essential Dickinson, selected by Joyce Carol Oates, The Ecco Press, Hopewell, New Jersey, 1996.
9. Emily Dickinson: A Biography, Connie Ann Kirk, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, and London, 2004.
8. An Emily Dickinson Encyclopedia, ed. Jane Donahue Eberwein, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, and London, 1998.