Many characters are named after real life contemporaries of Emily Dickinson in Amherst. For example, Abby and Abiah are inspired by real people but, contrary to the 'mean girls antagonist' personas portrayed they were both close friends with Emily and remained life-long correspondents with her.
The real-life Dickinson never found fame in her lifetime, and it remains unclear how much she actually sought to be known through her writing. What's even less clear is how much can be understood about Dickinson through her writing. Fewer than a dozen of her poems were published while she was alive, all of them under a pseudonym. It wasn't until her sister Lavinia discovered a cache of her sister's writing after her death that Dickinson's work was widely published for the first time. Many of her poems weren't even shared with friends or family, suggesting at least some ambivalence about putting her writing up for mass consumption.
In several episodes some of the dialogue is based on real statements found in letters by, or referring to, Emily Dickinson.
Despite Anna Baryshnikov playing Lavinia, the youngest of the Dickinson children, she is actually 4 years older than Hailee Steinfeld.
This is Hailee Steinfeld's first regular role on a television series.