Emily Dickinson at Poets House

On view October 20, 2011 through February 18, 2012

Poets House celebrates the life and work of iconic poet Emily Dickinson in a groundbreaking exhibition of original manuscripts, rare books and even a recipe from the Donald & Patricia Oresman Collection. Most of the pieces are on view for the first time to the public. The Donald & Patricia Oresman Collection is one of the larger holdings of privately-owned Dickinson manuscripts and represent a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see many of these materials.

With a smaller, concurrent exhibition of curator Jen Bervin’s Dickinson-based works, as well as a sequence of related public programs, this exhibition evokes the radical nature of Dickinson’s writing process and poetry, opening new doors for Dickinson lovers and inspiring Dickinson neophytes. Bervin, herself a poet and artist, brings together text, textile and archival research in a practice that encompasses artist books, poetry and large-scale art works. Her exhibition of large-scale sewn composites based on the variant marks in Emily Dickinson’s manuscripts are exhibited for the first time in New York, along with new white-on-white works based on Dickinson’s fragments.

Both exhibitions are on view through January 28, 2012.