Carol Ann Duffy on the Importance of Sylvia Plath November 5, 2012: Carol Ann Duffy was tasked with editing a new selected poems by Sylvia Plath. Over at the Guardian, she reflects on why Plath has been important to her throughout her writing career and why Plath is important to poetry in general. Duffy writes: Although she had published her first collection, The Colossus and Other Poems, in 1960, and [...] by Harriet Staff

Wherever Do Thou Lodgest, Sylvia Plath, Now? November 1, 2012: The Rumpus has a vagueish inquiry into the whereabouts of Sylvia Plath today--after quoting from a few reductive, antiquated reviews of "the woman poet," David Beispiel asks: So, now, why not ask, what of Sylvia Plath? Where is she? I mean, what of Sylvia Plath, who would have turned 80 this year, nowadays? I’m not sure I can go [...] by Harriet Staff

A Sylvia Plath Birthday Round-up October 29, 2012: Sylvia Plath would've turned 80 on Saturday and the internet was abuzz with tributes. Here's a sampling: from Roger Ebert; a new collection, curated by Carol Ann Duffy; a Telegraph remembrance; oh, and it was Dylan Thomas' birthday, too! by Harriet Staff

Ted Hughes’s Brother, Gerald, Writes a Memoir October 16, 2012: [caption id="attachment_55500" align="alignright" width="500" caption="Ted Hughes (far right) with his brother Gerald and sister Olwyn"][/caption] Gerald Hughes, the older brother of Ted Hughes, has written a memoir detailing their childhood in Yorkshire. From The Guardian: Gerald was 10 years older than Ted – a gap large enough to [...] by Harriet Staff

New Sylvia Plath Poem Discovered October 5, 2012: This summer, Karen Kukil, the associate curator of special collections at Smith College received an envelope from alumna Marcia (Marty) Brown Stern. In it was an unedited, unpublished poem by Sylvia Plath, who was roommates with Stern at Smith. Here, Kukil describes receiving the poem, titled "marcia," which is unfortunately not published in [...] by Harriet Staff

Ted Hughes’s Letter to his Son September 18, 2012: From Letters of Note: A wise and inspiring letter from Ted Hughes to his 24-year-old son, Nicholas. Early in the letter, Hughes describes his life in America with his wife, Sylvia Plath, writing, "I came to America, when I was 27, and lived there three years as if I were living inside a damart sock... We made hardly any friends, no close ones, [...] by Harriet Staff

Newly Released FBI Files Corroborate Sylvia Plath’s Characterization of Her Father as Pro-Nazi August 20, 2012: Bookforum's Paper Trail alerts us to this news: Newly released FBI files on Sylvia Plath’s father, Otto, corroborate Plath’s pro-Nazi characterization of him in her 1958 poem, “Daddy” ("Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You— / Not God but a swastika”) by describing him as “pro-German” with a “morbid disposition." More [...] by Harriet Staff

Some Famous Rejections July 23, 2012: The Chicago Tribune has published this piece, which excerpts a larger piece from Missouri Review about some rather famous Knopf author rejections. Here's the treatment The Bell Jar received: Sylvia Plath: "The Bell Jar," 1962-63 First rejection: I'm not sure what (the British literary publisher) Heinemann's sees in this first [...] by Harriet Staff

The Sketches of Sylvia Plath June 13, 2012: The Paris Review Daily points us to a slideshow at The Telegraph of Sylvia Plath's sketches, which were exhibited in November at London's Mayor Gallery. "The delicacy and precision of her execution will come as no surprise to fans of Plath’s writing; her mastery of the medium may." The Telegraph writes that "The collection, which was [...] by Harriet Staff

Plath and Hughes on the Road to Cornucopia May 8, 2012: A write-up in the Ashland Current touches upon the highlight of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath's "Jack Kerouac-inspired cross-country road trip" that brought them to Cornucopia, Wisconsin. From the article: The highlight of their trip: Cornucopia, an unincorporated fishing village on the shore of Lake Superior, said David Trinidad, [...] by Harriet Staff