Home Page

Bring American poetry and history to life by inviting Emily Dickinson in a one-woman play, written and performed by MiMi Zannino.  This unique 30-minute presentation offers an optional 15-30 minute Q-and-A session with Ms. Dickinson/Zannino during which audience members can discuss specific elements of the poetry, culture, and life of Emily Dickinson, author of nearly 2,000 poems.  Many were composed during the Civil War years-her most intensely creative period.  Dressed in the authentic attire of the times, Ms. Zannino focuses on Dickinson's relationship with Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, commander of the First South Carolina Regiment.  Mr. Higginson was a literary critic, writer, abolitionist, and minister who co-published Dickinson's first collection of poetry after her death.

Since 1989, Ms. Zannino has conducted poetry workshops with thousands of students and teachers through the Maryland State Arts Council.  She has helped students write and publish poetry anthologies as well as prepare for the POETRY OUT LOUD national recitation program.  She has also taught literature, composition, creative writing, and sociology on the college level.

Ms. Zannino is certified by The Teaching Artist Institute, and is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University with a major in English and World Literature, and a Master of Arts from Towson University.  Her program models theatre performance skills (voice, gesture, and creativity) that help audiences connect with American literature and history.