DICKINSON

What would poet Emily make of this comedy drama?

Quirky comedy drama about the great American poet Emily Dickinson, whose genius was unrecognised during her lifetime. In the show, which takes inspiration from her poetry as well as her life, Emily (Hailee Steinfeld, right) is a young woman, scornful of convention and ambitious as a writer but uncertain about the prospect of fame. She’s also in love with her best friend Sue who, at the end of season one, marries Emily’s brother. The evidence suggests that real-life Emily was also in love with her sister-in-law, once writing to her: ‘We are the only poets and everyone else is prose.’ Although it’s 19th Century New England, characters use modern vernacular and there is a rock and pop soundtrack.