Emily Dickinson

An item at American Writers Museum

Emily Dickinson is one of the wonderful mysteries of American literature. She rarely left the house or ventured from her hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts. Yet she maintained close friendships and carefully followed social issues of the day. Upon her death, her sister discovered 40 bound volumes filled with 1,800 poems.

Dickinson wrote about love, faith, mortality, nature's sparse beauty, and the virtues of domestic life. Her work is breathtakingly original. Her unusual syntax and punctuation shattered all the rules of poetry. Many writers consider Dickinson and Whitman to have created the first uniquely American poetry.

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum