Poetry Extra: In Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom

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BBC Radio 4 Extra

Poetry Extra

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Weekly opportunity for listeners to revisit the riches of the BBC radio poetry archive

A brand new poetry slot on Radio 4 Extra gives listeners a weekly opportunity to revisit the riches of the BBC radio poetry archive

Poetry Extra: Pursuit Of Beauty - In Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom

Pursuit Of Beauty - In Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Poetry Extra, Pursuit Of Beauty - In Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom

Daljit Nagra selects the best programmes from the BBC's poetry archive.

Daljit Nagra selects In Emily Dickinson's Bedroom.  With Cheryl Strayed, Ocean Vuong and Sharon Olds.  From 2018.

The house where Emily Dickinson lived in Amherst, Massachusetts, is now The Emily Dickinson Museum. The museum has restored her bedroom, where she wrote most of her poetry, and they offer writing sessions for those who wish to spend an hour or two alone in Emily's Room.

In this programme three very modern writers, Cheryl Strayed, Ocean Vuong and Sharon Olds visit her room, to write, and to examine their writing through their own personal connections with Emily Dickinson's life and work.

For someone who has had such a huge impact on American poetry, Emily Dickinson lived a very small life. She published only a handful of poems in her lifetime, and as she grew older became a recluse who wore only white. Dubbed 'the myth of Amherst', her posthumous fame poses her as a puzzle to be solved. In visiting her room and meeting her on the page Cheryl, Sharon and Ocean reclaim her as a passionate, politically engaged writer whose work speaks powerfully to our present moment.

Cheryl Strayed is the author of four books and is best known for her memoir of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, 'Wild', which was turned into a film starring Reese Witherspoon.  She also wrote the beloved advice column 'Dear Sugar', the best of which was collected into 'Tiny Beautiful Things'.

Ocean Vuong won the 2018 TS Eliot prize in 201 for his debut poetry collection 'Night Sky with Exit Wounds'.  Born in Vietnam, Ocean has lived most of his life in Emily Dickinson's New England, and currently teaches at the University of Massachusetts, based in Amherst.

Sharon Olds is one of America's leading contemporary poets, the author of many collections of poetry and the recipient of many prizes, including the Pulitzer and the TS Eliot. 

Producer: Jessica Treen

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.

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