I am dabbling in writing poetry and am greatly inspired by Emily Dickenson.  She was a prominent American poet who passed away in 1886
I learned about her in middle school! That was so long ago though... I know she had a somewhat tragic life. Can you tell me about her so I can remember?
She was raised in Amherst and actually lived much of her life as a recluse.  
Why was she a recluse? Or what happened to her?
I think part of it was she was considered pretty eccentric and she rarely allowed guests. Later on she did not even leave her bedroom.
That's very fascinating. So, what were some more positive points of her life?
She was incredibely talented.  She wrote 1800 poems, however only a dozen were published while she was alive
I see. what else?
She wrote in a very unusual style.  Often, her poems contained no titles, and used unconvential line styles and punctuation