Special Event: Amherst Poetry Festival, 9/20

Hello Nerd Nite fans! We are very excited to partner with the Emily Dickinson Museum on a special poetry-themed edition of Nerd Nite, happening Saturday, September 20th at 7:30PM on the lawn of the museum. The event is part of the Amherst Poetry Festival, occurring from the 19th to the 21st. It’s all free! And we’ll be under a tent, so don’t worry about the weather.

Here are the talks:

Are You’re Sure Emily Dickinson Was a Poet?
How do notes scribbled on a chocolate wrapper become famous lyric poems? Let’s reflect on just what it means to be a poet by taking a look at some of Emily Dickinson’s manuscripts.

Sean Gordon is a PhD student and an instructor in the English Department at UMass-Amherst. He’s also a serious lover of Emily Dickinson’s … poetry?

————————-

How to Stop Worrying and Love Poetry
People often say they’re afraid of poetry, but this fear arises from focusing on meaning, as if the poem is a complicated envelope we have to extract some nugget from. But what if the poem is a playground instead? What if we enter it looking for the pleasure instead of worrying about getting it wrong?

Michael Thurston teaches courses on modern poetry (the hard stuff) at Smith College. He has also published several books and a dozen articles on twentieth-century poetry.

Hope to see you there!

Comments are closed.