Denice Hicks (Emily Dickinson and Co-Author for I Dwell In Possibility: Emily Dickinson Emerges) has been performing for over 50 years and is currently the Artistic Director of the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, a company dedicated to community enrichment through professional theatrical experiences and interactive workshops. Educated at Point Park University, her first Shakespeare role was Juliet at the historic Pittsburgh Playhouse in 1979. She moved to Nashville in 1980 to perform at Opryland USA, toured for two years on the dinner theater circuit, was an original company member of the Nashville Repertory Theatre, and was among the founders of both the Darkhorse Theater and People’s Branch Theatre. She has been a guest lecturer at many universities and with the Cooperative Center for Study Abroad program for three weeks in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and London. She was honored by the Nashville Scene as one of the “Twenty-five Nashvillians who’ve shaped the city for the better since 1989” and is frequently voted “Best Stage Actor” by their readers. Denice has been involved in over 70 productions of Shakespeare’s works, with some of her favorite roles being Puck, Ophelia, Juliet, Rosalind, Viola, Olivia, Katherine, Cassius, the Duke of York (Richard II), and Ariel. Non-Shakespeare favorites are Stella (A Streetcar Named Desire), Ouiser (Steel Magnolias), Lenny (Crimes of the Heart), Major Barbara, various roles in numerous new works, and she toured the entire state as Emily Dickinson in “The Belle of Amherst” for Humanities Outreach of Tennessee. Denice is thrilled to be reviving her passion for Emily Dickinson’s poetry with Stephanie Shine and is honored to be working with Tennessee Shakespeare Company.