Emily Dickinson International Society

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2008 EDIS ANNUAL MEETING
August 1-3, 2008
Amherst, Massachusetts.

The 2008 Annual Meeting to take place in Amherst from August 1 to 3. The meeting will celebrate the 20th anniversary of EDIS and will introduce the first Dickinson Discussion Institute. Dedicated to the general theme of “Celebration,” poets Mark Doty, Elizabeth Willis, and Michael Ryan will appear as featured speakers. The Institute has been titled the “Discussion Institute” in order to foreground the discussion component of the program and will issue a general invitation to all members and a call for papers. The Institute's theme is “The Role of Narrative in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson.”

Meeting Program and Registration Form

Bulletin Editorship To Open in 2009

Michael Kearns has informed the EDIS Board of Directors that he intends to step down as Editor of the Bulletin after the May/June 2009 issue. The Board is now looking for someone else to take over this demanding but very rewarding task. The basic qualifications are that the candidate be a member of EDIS in good standing and a resident of the United States (to facilitate mailing). The editor also must have excellent writing skills, be familiar with Dickinson’s biography and work, and be reasonably current with Dickinson scholarship. The position is unpaid, but all normal expenses are reimbursed. The position carries with it membership on the EDIS Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors is looking for a candidate who would be prepared to assume full responsibility for editing the Bulletin in summer 2009. Ideally the candidate would be able to work with Michael Kearns on the May/June 2009 issue before taking over the editorship.

To apply, please send a resume and a letter of interest to Michael Kearns at the Department of English, University of Southern Indiana, 8600 University Blvd., Evansville, IN 47712. He will be happy to answer inquiries at mkearns@usi.edu.

EDIS Scholar in Amherst Award 2007

The Emily Dickinson International Society (EDIS) is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2007 Scholar in Amherst Award is Aífe Murray, an Independent Scholar whose work on Emily Dickinson has been featured in Signs: A Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Visiting Emily: Contemporary Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson, and the Blackwell Companion to Emily Dickinson. The EDIS Award will enable Murray to complete the research for her forthcoming book, Maid as Muse: How Her Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language
(University Press of New England 2009).

Annual Membership Dues Renewal

You should have received your membership renewal forms from Johns Hopkins. We look forward to having you as a continuing member of the Emily Dickinson International Society as we enter our twentieth anniversary year. Membership information is available here.

2009 EDIS ANNUAL MEETING
July 30 - August 2, 2009
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

The 2009 Annual Meeting will take place in Regina, Saskatchewan, "The Queen City," from July 30 to August 2. The meeting's theme is "Emily Dickinson: Queen Without a Crown." Teaching discussions will be from several perspectives, demonstrated by award-winning instructors within our membership and including strategies for teaching children and using online resources.

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE-ELECTION

At the 2006 meeting of the Emily Dickinson International Society, the Board of Directors decided to seat three Members-at-Large on the Board (instead of only one) with elections each year to replace one person rotating off, thereby increasing participation of the membership in decision-making. In March 2007 two Members-at-Large were elected, Barbara Dana and Cindy MacKenzie. Their terms will be staggered so they rotate off in successive years. In early 2008 the third Member-at-Large will be elected for a three-year term. Members can be re-elected. Society members are invited to present themselves as candidates for the anticipated vacancies.

The Board ordinarily meets once a year in conjunction with the Society's annual meeting (generally in the summer), and the Members-at-Large are expected to attend the annual meetings. Candidates should expect to fund annual meeting attendance either on their own or with institutional assistance. In addition, board members work during the year on Society projects and frequently communicate via email, regular mail, or telephone, at their own expense.

If you are interested in providing leadership for the Emily Dickinson International Society and supporting its mission of promoting interest in Dickinson and her poetry, you are invited to submit your name for consideration for the position of Member-at-Large. Members are eligible without regard for geography or profession. Nominations are also welcome. By February 2008, the Nominations Committee, headed by Ellen Louise Hart, will compile a list of candidates to present to the general membership for selection of the new Member-at-Large. There will be an election by mail in late February 2008, with the winner announced in the spring Bulletin.

Anyone wishing to become a candidate should contact Ellen Louise Hart, Chair of the Nominations Committee, by January 31, 2008, at ehart@ucsc.edu. Be sure to include a brief statement of goals and qualifications pertinent to your candidacy. If you wish to nominate a candidate, please ensure that the person is willing to run and ask him or her to forward the aforementioned statement to the Nominations Committee Chair.