Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) wrote some 1,800 poems, though only a handful were published during her lifetime. Here we’ll look at ten of her well-loved poems — though choosing is always tough.
Dickinson remains something of a mystery, which fuels the continued fascination with her work and life. In The Penguin Companion to American Literature (1971), Eric Mottram offered this assessment of her poetic practices:
“She hoarded her poems, among them love poems, apparently addressed to Benjamin Newton, a student in her father’s office, with whom she corresponded until his death in 1853, and Charles Wadsworth, a distinguished married clergyman who may have left America because of her. Read More→
Moods by Louisa May Alcott was this beloved American author’s first novel (that is, the first that she published under her own name). It came out in 1864 — four years before her breakout Little Women.
The novel unconventionally presents a “little woman” a true-hearted abolitionist spinster, and a fallen Cuban beauty, their lives intersecting in Alcott’s first major depiction of the “woman problem.”
Sylvia Yule, the heroine of Moods, is a passionate tomboy (as was the author herself) who yearns for adventure. The novel opens as she embarks on a river camping trip with her brother and his two friends, both of whom fall in love with her. These rival suitors, close friends, are modeled on Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
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Charlotte Brontë was fiercely protective of the work and reputations of her literary sisters, Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë, both of whom tragically young of consumption (tuberculosis).
By default, she became the guardian of her sisters’ literary legacy. Following is Charlotte Brontë’s preface to Wuthering Heights, Emily’s only published novel.
The sisters first published their works under pseudonyms, thinking that their work would be more readily accepted for publication and general acceptance. Read More→
In The Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell, Charlotte Brontë pays homage to her sisters, telling the story of how she, Emily, and Anne found their paths to becoming published authors. This was no simple feat for women of their time, particularly those who had no money, status, or contacts.
Written in 1850, after both Emily and Anne had already died tragically young, Charlotte explains their pseudonyms as the “Bells.” She was Currer, Emily was Ellis, and Anne was Acton. She, like her sisters, believed that using ambiguous names would make it easier to interest publishers in their works.
In this essay, she also speaks of the untimely deaths of Emily and Anne. Here, in Charlotte’s own words, is her 1850 biographical sketch of her talented sisters: Read More→
Following is the full text of The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s most widely known work. This long-form short story is written from the perspective of a depressed young wife and mother who has been confined, with all her creative outlets forbidden to her.
First published in 1892 in New England Magazine, it’s considered a feminist classic, and is widely studied in women’s studies and literature courses.
The story starts with a mystery: the house seems to have “something queer about it.” It soon becomes clear that the house isn’t the only thing that’s “queer.” The secluded country home and the attic room the narrator inhabits come to represent her tenuous situation and her slippery sense of self. Read More→
Developing the discipline to write regularly is an age-old dilemma. For tips on self-discipline for writers, we’ll turn to some of our classic women authors. A famous writerly quote goes something like: “The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.”
Attributed to Mary Heaton Vorse (1874 – 1966), variations of it have been credited to (mostly male) authors from Ernest Hemingway to Kingsley Amis.
If only it were that simple. Ms. Vorse plied her trade in an era when the only thing between the writer whose seat was on the chair and the typewriter or notebook on the desk was the dreaded blank page. For today’s writers, that dreaded blank page is on the computer screen, and behind it, the entire universe on the web, seducing you with endless distractions. Read More→
Picture Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) in her country home, wearing her frilly cap, quill in hand. She writes, as accepted myth would have it, because the fires of genius compel her to, and she doesn’t give two cents about twopence, or any other denomination of financial remuneration. She’s too genteel for that.
Wrong! Jane Austen was keenly interested in the business affairs that pertained to her literary ambitions, and cared deeply about becoming a published author.
Her father and brother, fortunately, were behind her. That was almost a must for a woman of her time who wished to be published. Jane wasn’t “discovered” in any major way; she and her family opted for some of the venues for publishing available to them, none all that attractive or profitable. Read More→
It’s so fascinating to walk in the footsteps of iconic authors, and see where they lived and worked. Presented here are six homes of classic women authors in New England that are open to the public for tours. They preserve the lives and legacies of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, Edith Wharton, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Judith Sargent Murray.
Visit them one at a time, group two on a weekend trip, or do them all on a multi-day loop. Or, if you’re nowhere near New England, armchair travel is the next best thing — link through to these homes and browse all they have to offer. Some even give virtual and hybrid programs.
Literary pilgrimages are inspiring and enlightening. If you can’t get enough of your favorite women authors in print, visiting their homes, preserved for public viewing, is a fantastic way to get to know them better. Getting a glimpse where they lived and worked, and how they extended their creative flair into their homes and gardens is a true privilege.
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