Tori Amos was interviewed by Mr. Gee recently on the BBC4's "Rymye and Reason". About mid-way through the segment Amos mentions she turned to the poetry of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton in her development as a song writer. This can be found around 15 minutes, 30 seconds into the program. At about 16 minutes, 45 seconds, Amos reads most of "Lady Lazarus". Thanks to Melanie in Australia for the link. The recording is available on BBC's iPlayer until 18 January 2011.
The following news story appeared online this morning: HEPTONSTALL, ENGLAND (APFS) - The small village of Heptonstall is once again in the news because of the grave site of American poet Sylvia Plath. The headstone controversy rose to a fever pitch in 1989 when Plath's grave was left unmarked for a long period of time after vandals repeatedly chiseled her married surname Hughes off the stone marker. Author Nick Hornby commented, "I like Plath, but the controversy reaching its fever pitch in the 80s had nothing to do with my book title choice." Today, however, it was discovered that the grave was defaced but in quite an unlikely fashion. This time, Plath's headstone has had slashed-off her maiden name "Plath," so the stone now reads "Sylvia Hughes." A statement posted on Twitter from @masculinistsfortedhughes (Masculinists for Ted Hughes) has claimed responsibility saying that, "We did this because as Ted Hughes' first wife, Sylvia de