Shrewdly, Emily sensed Margaret would be the right right-hand person and pulled out all the stops to get her hired.

What a pair. Here they are pictured, both as women in their late twenties, before they began their long association together.

There is no one Emily leaned on quite like she did Margaret Maher. Margaret never bore children of her own but she ably performed the task of nurturing a poet. Happy Mothering Day.

Goat Rock

May 1

The Cork poet Thomas McCarthy calls it “brilliant” and a “marvel”:

Isn’t Aífe Murray’s study of Emily Dickinson and Margaret Maher just brilliant;it really is a contribution to world literature, layered with a whole series of implications for creative histories at several levels, Irish-American, WASP-Yankee, authority and servitude, and women’s studies. It’s a marvel of an essay.

Essayist and novelist Peter Quinn finds Extended Family to be an “achievement” and a “gem”:

A milestone in the long day’s journey of Irish America from cliché, caricature, and scholarly neglect to a true accounting of its important role in the making of our country’s multicultural identity. Each of the pieces in this collection—whether poetry, history, or memoir—is a gem.

Get the paperback here

Sit in your cell as in paradise.

Put the whole world behind you & forget it.

Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish.

The path you must follow is in the Psalms—never leave it.

Emily Dickinson following the above Brief Rule of St. Romuald:

Standing with her niece, ED mimed the motion of turning a key in her bedroom door lock.  “It’s just a turn — and freedom, Matty!”

Sweet hours have perished here,
This is a mighty room -
Within its precincts hopes have played
Now shadows in the tomb.*

When writer Emily went downstairs — to bake or cook or garden or tend the plants of her conservatory — she carried her cell with her.

Forgot the world briefly, watched her thoughts like a fisher.

I’m doing that today. Remembering to forget. Watching for what’s visible when I pause –

—–

*Revise! Make it your own poem: ED’s alternate words: timid for mighty; fallow for shadows

I turned to Emily Dickinson — my usual source of inspiration and whose 182nd birthday is today — and a look at her process to figure out how she moved past her resistance.

What I found was intriguing. Emily Dickinson transformed her writing barriers into a door to her work.

Emily Dickinson’s first writing strategy arrived in the form of a shaggy dog.

Read more at SheWrites…

Those words describe Emily Dickinson, the poet who passed away in May 1886,

and

Spain Rodriguez, the graphic artist who passed away in November 2012.

View some of Emily Dickinson’s writerly / visual work here

View some of Spain’s writerly / visual work here and a film by Susan Stern

It’s a great poem but, per usual, poetry does nothing for the economy–

So how about this version penned by Emily Dickinson A.K.A BT Shaw:

“Faith” is a fine invention
For Gentlemen who see!
But Proof will burn — like Phosphorus –
Those Sexting — secretly –
Cell Phone Spy Recon for Blackberry and Android, $198.95

Maid as Muse is the November pick for the 18 Reasons Food Lit Book Club

I’ll make a guest appearance at the Club on Sunday, Nov 11 at 6:30 p.m.

This is a ticketed event so get more details here

We’ll talk:

- Foodie Emily Dickinson

- Emily Dickinson’s biggest family holiday: Thanksgiving

- Best writing & cooking practices (dished up as guest blogger on Four Pounds Flour with Bon Appetit commenting )

- Someone’s in the Kitchen with Emily

Join the Food-Lit Book Club for a look inside:

the poet’s pantry

& kitchen garden

& scullery

credit: Aífe Murray

Emily Dickinson “dwelled in Lower East Side possiblity” this September.

Listen to the recent Tenement Talk - held 9/18/12 at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum – where Aífe Murray & Kathleen Hill discuss the braided lives of Margaret Maher and Emily Dickinson. Co-sponsor: Glucksman Ireland House.

See photos of the world premiere of An Emily Dickinson Sensorium that was part of LitCrawl NYC on 9/15/12. Co-sponsor: Emily Dickinson International Society.

Aífe Murray touched on Emily Dickinson’s baking and writing processes in a guest blog on Four Pounds Flour, the historic gastronomy site & happenings by Sarah Lohman.

Bon Appetit couldn’t resist weighing in!

“Good times,” claimed the Divine Ms. D.

Poet Emily Dickinson & Maid Margaret Maher c.1870

Here’s our take on the brand new photo of Emily Dickinson!

It’s of Emily at about age 28 with her immigrant maid Margaret Maher at about age 30.

Theses two shared the Dickinson kitchen for 17 years. What did they talk about when they made a loaf cake together? What else passed between them as Margaret washed a plate and handed it to Emily to dry?

Find out in Maid as Muse.

]]> http://maidasmuse.com/feed/ 0