Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her family was well known in the educational and political circles. Her father, Edward Dickinson was a lawyer, treasurer of Amherst College and also served in Congress, while his grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson, was one of the founders of Amherst College.

Being from a well known and well educated family, she got good education attending Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for formal education.

However, unlike the rest of her family Emily Dickinson was a very private person and in her twenties withdrew from virtually all public activities leading a secluded life. She never married and very few friends and acquaintances. She rarely left her family house in Amherst and barring a few occasions out of necessity never traveled out of Amherst. She also did not agree with her father’s religious beliefs, which resulted in some strain in their relationship with him censoring the books that she read.

Later years of Emily's Life saw many deaths in her family. Her father died in 1874, mother in 1882 and several other among the few people that she was close to died between 1874 and 1883. In June of 1884 she suffered the first attack of her terminal illness. For the whole of 1885 she was confined to her bed in her family's house. She parted from this world on May 15, 1886 at the age of 56.

Although Emily Dickinson is regarded among a handful of great American poets and has had significant influence on modern poetry, she remained virtually unknown during her life time. Only 7 of her poems were published while she was alive. Dickinson's work is considered unique based on her unconventional style. Her use of extensive dashes, sporadic capitalization, unique vocabulary constructs and lyric style has set his work apart from other poets.

After her death, her sister Lavinia brought out the initial publication of Emily's poem betweem 1891-1896. It was heavily edited and contained many editorial imperfections. In 1955 her poetry was republished in a manner that was closer to her original writings.

Her private life style has resulted in many writings on her life and many speculations on what transpired in her life.

Selected Works:

· Poems By Emily Dickinson, 1890 (Ed. By T.W. Higgins And Mabel Loomis Todd)
· Poems: Second Series, 1891
· Poems: Third Series, 1896
· Poems Of A Lifetime, 1914
· Selected Poems, 1924 (Ed. By Conrad Aiken)
· The Poems Of Emily Dickinson, 1955 (Ed. By Thomas H. Johnson)
· The Letters Of Emily Dickinson, 1958
· The Complete Poems Of Emily Dickinson, 1960 (Ed. By Thomas H. Johnson)
· The Manuscript Books Of Emily Dickinson, 1981 (2 Vols., Ed. By Ralph W. Franklin)
· New Poems Of Emily Dickinson, 1993 (Ed. By William H. Shurr)
· Open Me Carefully: Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters To Susan Huntington Dickinson, 1998