Martha Ackmann will read from and discuss her new Dickinson biography, These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson (2020), which unravels the mystery of Dickinson’s life through ten decisive episodes that distill her evolution as a poet.  Using thousands of archival letters and poems, as well as never-before-seen photos, Ackmann constructs a remarkable map of Dickinson’s inner life.  “Ackmann writes with panache,” the Boston Globe declared, “in a lucid narrative grounded in solid research colored by appreciative warmth.”

Martha Ackmann, author of Curveball (2010) and The Mercury 13 (2003), writes about women who have changed America.  The recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, she taught for many years a seminar on Dickinson for Mount Holyoke College.  Ackmann’s work has appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post.