‘Shining Through’: Molly Peacock's Literary Legacy at Dickinson
Molly Peacock speaks with creative-writing students at Dickinson as part of her three-day residency. Photo by Dan Loh.
Three-day event brings 'poetry activist' to campus
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Molly Peacock is a celebrated poet, essayist and biographer whose influence is also felt beyond the written page. Recently, she brought that breadth and depth of experience into an impactful artistic residency at Dickinson.
Amplified literature
Peacock is a widely anthologized author of eight poetry volumes and an award-winning biographer and a writer of essays, memoir and short fiction. A review of her poetry in Washington Post Book World describes the “rich music” of her verse, and The New York Times Book Review characterized her biography, Paper Garden, as a “graceful meditation on botany, nature, life and age” with a subject so vivid she “almost jumps from the page.” But her legacy also includes longtime work as a “poetry activist.”
As president of the Poetry Society of America, Peacock co-founded the Poetry in Motion initiative, which brought poetry inside the New York City subway system; the program has since expanded into public transit systems in several major North American cities. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, Peacock has further cemented her legacy through a 40-year teaching commitment at New York's 92nd Street Y and through her founding of the Best Canadian Poetry series.
During her three-day campus residency, Peacock talked poetry with students in Professor of Creative Writing Adrienne Su’s advanced poetry class and discussed writing and the writing life with students in Dickinson’s creative writing program. Work across genres was the focus of a Friday morning group discussion with student, faculty and local writers. And many of these conversations spilled over into shared meals with student and faculty groups.
Catching inspiration
A highlight of Peacock’s visit was her public reading in Allison Hall, followed by a Q&A and a book signing. Selected students also joined Peacock for a group photo on the steps of Old West.
Molly Peacock (front, center) poses for a traditional Stellfox photo with creative writing students and faculty. Photo by Dan Loh.
That photo shoot is an honored tradition at Dickinson, recreating a 1959 photo of Dickinson students with Robert Frost. The literary giant’s visit made a big impression on Jean Louise Stellfox ’60, then a junior-year English major. Stellfox went on to teach high-school literature, and through her estate she established the Harold & Ethel Stellfox Scholars & Writers Program. Named in honor of her parents, the program has funded the residencies of two U.S. Poets Laureates, two Booker Prize-winning authors, a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, two Pulitzer Prize-winning poets, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and two Pulitzer-winning playwrights, among others.
Georgia Hines ’28, an English major with a minor in creative writing, attended several of this year’s Stellfox events. She also helped coordinate the residency, including selecting a poem for a commemorative bookmark. Hines says that for students like her, Peacock's residency was "more than just a reading or class visit—it was a chance to grow as a writer and thinker." And in that, she sees a throughline between the spirit of the residency’s founder and that of it its current honoree.
“Jean Stellfox was an English teacher who funded these residencies with her life savings,” Hines observes. “Her presence shines through Molly Peacock, who deeply values education and fostering creative minds.”
Learn more about the Stellfox Award.
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Published February 20, 2026