The Montgomery County Literary Arts Council’s ” annual Emily Dickinson celebration and Gathering of Poets will be held on December 4, 2025. One of the longest-running Dickinson birthday celebrations in the country, in its 30th year, will feature distinguished scholar Professor Ann Beebe at 3:00 pm at Lone Star College Montgomery in room B-102.
Ann Beebe is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Literature and Languages at the University of Texas at Tyler. She specializes in pre-1865 American literature and teaches survey, senior, and graduate-level classes in American novels, poetry, short stories, and leadership. Her publications on the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, E. D. E. N. Southworth, William Cullen Bryant, and others have appeared in The Concord Saunterer, Religion and the Arts, Nineteenth-Century Prose, Literary Imagination, and Women’s Studies, as well as essay collections. Her book, Emily Dickinson: A Companion (2022), was published by McFarland, and her monograph on the poetry and life of Anne Bradstreet, available in Fall 2025.
The annual Gathering of Poets will be held at GuadalaHarry’s the same day at 5:30 pm. Distinguished poets will read their favorite Dickinson poem and one of their own works. This year’s line-up includes: Michael Anania Michael Baldwin, Alan Berecka, former Corpus Christi Poet Laureate, Jane Creighton, Robin Davidson, Kelly Ellis, Dede Fox, former Montgomery County Poet Laureate, Grady Hillman, Katie Hough, Gretchen Johnson, Ken Jones, Janet McCann, Hallie Moore, Montgomery County Poet Laureate, Karla Morton, 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, Kevin Prufer, 2026 Texas Poet Laureate, Kip Stratton, Western Heritage Award, Dave Oliphant, Daniel Rifenburgh, Sandi Stromberg, Chuck Taylor, and Randy Watson. The poets will again be led by the 2011 Texas Poet Laureate, Dave Parsons.
Both events are free to the public. The events are made possible through the cooperation and support of Conroe Arts & Culture grants, Lone Star College Montgomery SWIRL Journal of the Arts, Greater Conroe Arts Alliance, and Montgomery County Literary Arts Council. For more information: Dave Parsons, 936.524.6537 or Cliff Hudder, Clifford.w.hudder@lonestar.edu