Emily Dickinson

Hello! My name is Emily Dickinson. I was born on a chilly winter day, December 10th, in the year 1830. I grew up in a big brick house in a lovely town called Amherst, Massachusetts. I lived with my family: my older brother, Austin, and my younger sister, Lavinia, who everyone called Vinnie. We had a big, fluffy dog named Carlo who followed me everywhere. I loved exploring the world right outside my door. My garden was my favorite place, filled with colorful flowers and busy bees. I also loved to bake, especially my special black cake, and I would lower baskets of treats from my window to the neighborhood children.

Even more than baking or gardening, I loved words. I saw poetry in everything—in a slant of winter sunlight, a blooming clover, or the hope that feathers bring. I started writing poems when I was a teenager. I didn't have fancy notebooks, so I would write on any scrap of paper I could find. Then, I would carefully copy my favorites and sew them together into little handmade books that I called fascicles. As I got older, I liked being home more and more. I was a bit shy and preferred my own quiet company. My room was my whole world, a place where I could think, dream, and write. I didn't go out much, but I stayed connected to my friends by writing letters. I wrote hundreds of letters, especially to my dear friend and sister-in-law, Susan.

During my life, only about ten of my poems were ever printed in a newspaper or book, and I didn't even tell them they could! I kept my writing mostly to myself, a secret treasure stored in a wooden chest. It was my own private world made of words. After I was gone, my sister Vinnie was cleaning my room and found my chest. She opened it and discovered a wonderful surprise: nearly 1,800 poems! She knew they were too special to keep hidden. Vinnie worked very hard to share my poetry with the world. The very first book of my poems was published in 1890, four years after my story on Earth ended.

I lived to be 55 years old, spending almost my entire life in my beloved Amherst. Even though I was a quiet person who stayed in one place, my words have traveled all over the world. Today, children and grown-ups read my poems in classrooms and books. I hope my poems help you see the wonder in the little things around you and remind you that even a quiet voice can be filled with beautiful and powerful ideas that can last forever.