Em Dash

“Because I could not stop for Death — He kindly stopped for me,” wrote Emily Dickinson. But in the Valley, celebrations of the famous Amherst poet never stop for long, and come September, fans of Miss Emily will once again grab the chance to do a mad dash through all 1,789 of her poems. The communal live reading — which, as far as we can tell, is the area’s only three-day poetry marathon — is the perfect chance for newcomers and veteran rhyme schemers alike to jump off the literary deep end together and bookworm through Dickinson’s impressive body of work from cover to cover. That it coincides with the fourth annual Amherst Poetry Festival is just icing on the cake.

Amherst Poetry Festival and Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon: Sept. 15-17. Downtown and at the Emily Dickinson Museum, 280 Main St., Amherst. emilydickinsonmuseum.org.