St. John in the Wilderness Friends of Music
Presents
An Afternoon with Emily Dickinson

A special spring performance is in store when North Carolina actor Susan King portrays legendary writer Emily Dickinson in The Belle of Amherst by William Luce (one-hour version) on Sunday, April 21, 2024 at 4pm in the Parish Hall of the Episcopal Church of St. John in the Wilderness.

The performance is free and open to the public.

When given the opportunity to be part of The Music and Art Series, Ms. King said, “I am deeply honored to have been invited by my friend, Dewitt Tipton, to participate in this marvelous series as a humble and hopefully worthy representative of Emily Dickinson, one of the world's masters of the short lyric poem.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born December 10, 1830 to Squire Edward and Emily Norcross Dickinson of Amherst, Massachusetts. She is remembered from her school days as being clever, charming, and outstanding among her peers in literary composition. Denied most of the comforts and satisfactions that sustain humanity, particularly love, marriage, and a secure religious faith, Emily lived intensely, finding in her books, her garden, and friends with whom she corresponded the possibilities of rich experience and fulfillment.

To the few people who really knew her, she was a fascinating woman who always wore white, never married, and was known amongst the Amherst townsfolk as "Squire Edward Dickinson's half-cracked daughter." Playwright Luce has dramatically woven poems, letters, lines and phrases of Dickinson’s in a conversational style that is both humorous and deeply moving. We meet in The Belle of Amherst a shy, funny woman who was a co-conspirator with children, who loved animals, nature, and words, and who lived her solitary life in a rich and deliberate way.  

Ms. King is a graduate of Mars Hill University. The Belle of Amherst remains the defining artistic experience of Susan’s professional career. She is retired from Appalachian State University and resides in Boone.

The Parish Hall is located across the street from the church at 1905 Greenville Highway. For more information visit www.stjohnflatrock.org.