Emily Dickinson, the great 19^th century American poet and noted recluse, will be portrayed by actress Cynthia Nixon in an upcoming film. Nixon is perhaps best known for her role as Miranda in the television series, Sex and the City. In 2000, the film’s director, Terence Davies, also directed an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth, which was well received by critics. Davies, who also wrote the screenplay, expressed that he had Nixon in mind for the role all along.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film traces Dickinson’s life “from precocious schoolgirl to the tortured recluse who saw only seven of her more than 1,000 poems published in her lifetime.” Of course, now Dickinson is widely considered to be among the all-time great poets.

“When I read what Terence had written, I was consumed by the character…” said Nixon. “Emily Dickinson’s words and Terence’s somehow dovetail to create a heady elixir. When I put the script down, I knew it was a story that I simply have to be a part of.”

In other literature-meets-the-movies news, director Baz Lurhmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular character, was originally scheduled for release this December but has been pushed back to Summer 2013. Still slated for the theaters this Winter are film versions of The Hobbit, Les Miserables, and The Life of Pi.

Source: Hollywood Reporter