We are pleased to be able to open our doors again and offer you performances in a safe environment. Click here to view our Coronavirus Advice page for some essential safety information about your visit. Emily Dickinson ‘Success is Counted Sweetest’ will also be streamed online, tickets for this are available here.

Caroline Bird poet
Nikita Gill poet
Erica Wagner author and critic
Amy Hollinrake vocals
Ben Smith keyboard
Evie Hilyer-Ziegler violin

How do we define success in the face of public opinion?

An evening of live poetry, music and discussion in celebration of fearless poet Emily Dickinson, exploring how contemporary artists have been inspired by her example to reject orthodoxies of failure and success and define their own. Featuring author and critic Erica Wagner delivering an introduction to Emily Dickinson’s work and relationship with success, poets Caroline Bird and Nikita Gill performing Dickinson’s poetry and their own, and contemporary singer-songwriter Amy Hollinrake who, with her band, will perform music inspired by Emily Dickinson.

Although widely considered as one of the greatest poets in English Literature, Emily Dickinson is just as well known for being something of a proud outsider. Often typecast as a recluse, Dickinson’s choice to remain unmarried and childless was wildly radical for a woman of her time.

Instead, Dickinson chose poetry, an occupation which required her undivided attention, and with it a degree of isolation. She was bold and unwavering in this choice, and in many other aspects of her life. Never tiptoeing around difficult topics, she stood firm in her confrontation of such issues as pain, dread and death, and the startling candidness and humour with which she tackled such taboos is one of the reasons she is so well-loved today.

Join us on twitter (@PoetintheCityUK) to Carry On The Conversation about defining success with us in our post-event space. Bring the popcorn, we’ll bring the chat.

Please note, the original date for this event was Wednesday 29 April. Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, this event had to be postponed. Read our full statement.