Note: All submitted events must be approved before they appear in the calendar.
Profs and Pints DC presents: “Emily Dickinson’s Love Life,” a look at the renowned poet’s work and erotic life, with Marianne Noble, professor of literature at American University, teacher of a course on Dickinson, and author of The Masochistic Pleasures of Sentimental Literature.
[Under current District of Columbia regulations attendees will be required to be vaccinated and to wear a mask except while eating or drinking. The Bier Baron will be requiring event attendees to purchase a minimum of two items, which can be food or beverages, including soft drinks.]
Emily Dickinson is frequently viewed as a virgin spinster who wore white and penned enigmatic little poems about birds and God. The full scope of her life and work, however, is much more complicated than that. She also wrote passionately erotic love poetry: “Wild Nights — Wild Nights! / Were I with thee / Wild Nights should be / Our luxury!” And recent discoveries and theories have opened minds to the possibility she might have felt deep love for both women and men.
Join Dr. Marianne Noble, who has extensively studied Dickinson’s life and poems, for a fascinating look at what we know and don’t know about Dickinson and how it influences the way we read her poetry.
She’ll discuss how we’ve moved well beyond earlier generations of readers’ belief that Dickinson’s love life consisted mainly of experiencing an early and tragic love for a man who either was married or had died. Her poetry actually reveals a distinct pattern of love imagery for women. Woven through her poetry is a clitoral pattern of crumbs, berries, bees, and other small round objects. Moreover, a recently discovered photograph may portray an adult Emily Dickinson—strong and confident–with her arm around another woman.
We’re also newly open to her many expressions of non-binaristic gender identification. A pattern of love for men is also woven throughout her writing, and new discoveries consolidate its importance too.
You’ll leave the talk with a newfound understanding of a great poet and much more appreciation of her work. (Advance tickets: $12. Doors: $15, or $13 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please allow yourself time to place any orders and get seated and settled in.)
