Skip to main content

Sylvia Plath collections: BBC's Third Programme

Emory University holds some important radio scripts for works read for the BBC's famous Third Programme. These papers form a part of The Raymond Danowski Poetry Library.

The script for Plath's verse poem, "Three Women", which aired on 19 August 1962, is in Box 1, Folder 14.

Also held are two scripts for works by Ted Hughes. In Box 1, Folder 16, "Difficulties of a Bridegroom", which aired on 9 Feburary 1963 and in Box 1, Folder 22, "Dogs" which aired just over a year later, on 12 Feburary 1964. Third Programme radio scripts, 1949-1978 (bulk 1959-1968)

The collection is held in two boxes.

From the scope and content note:

The collection contains thirty-six typescripts for the British Broadcasting Corporation's Third Programme, dating from 1949 to 1978; however, the majority of the typescripts date from the 1960s. The collection is comprised of numerous works by Dylan Thomas, including multiple versions of "Under Milk Wood," as well as typescripts of works by David Gascoyne, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Stevie Smith, Wole Soyinka, and others. Many of the programs were produced by Douglas Cleverdon, who worked on the Third Programme from 1946 to 1969.

Bio/History: The British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) Third Programme began on September 29, 1946, during the BBC's post-war restructuring. At this time, the BBC was divided into three networks: The Home Service, the Light Programme, and the Third Programme. The latter was considered more intellectual in nature and was defined by the BBC as "being for the educated rather than an educational programme." In 1957 the BBC decreased program's air time, despite protests from individuals such as T.S. Eliot. The program was cut further in 1970 and merged with Radio Four, created in 1967 to replace the Home Service and to reach a wider audience. Associated materials: Related collections in other repositories: BBC Third Programme Radio Scripts, Special Collections, University of Delaware.

Finding aid available in repository. Originally received as part of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library. The full finding aid is online here.

Popular posts from this blog

Famous Quotes of Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath inspires us all in various and wonderful ways. She is in many respects a form of comfort to us, which is something that Esther Greenwood expresses in The Bell Jar , about a bath: "There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them. Whenever I'm sad I'm going to die, or so nervous I can't sleep, or in love with somebody I won't be seeing for a week, I slump down just so far and then I say: 'I'll go take a hot bath.'" We read and remember Sylvia Plath for many reasons, many of them deeply personal and private. But we commemorate her, too, in very public ways, as Anna of the long-standing Tumblr Loving Sylvia Plath , has been tracking, in the form of tattoos. (Anna's on Instagram with it too, as SylviaPlathInk .) The above bath quote is among Sylvia Plath's most famous. It often appears here and there and it is stripped of its context. But I think most people will know it is from her nove

Sylvia Plath's Gravestone Vandalized

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

Sylvia Plath and McLean Hospital

In August when I was in the final preparations for the tour of Sylvia Plath The Bell Jar sites, I found that I had long been mistaken about a couple of things. This is my coming clean. It was my intention in this blog post to discuss just McLean, but I found myself deeply immersed in other aspects of Plath's recovery. The other thing I was mistaken about will be discussed in a separate blog post. I suppose I need to state from the outset that I am drawing conclusions from Plath's actual experiences from what she wrote in The Bell Jar and vice versa, taking information from the novel that is presently unconfirmed or murky and applying it to Plath's biography. There is enough in The Bell Jar , I think, based on real life to make these decisions. At the same time, I like to think that I know enough to distinguish where things are authentic and where details were clearly made up, slightly fudged, or out of chronological order. McLean Hospital was Plath's third and last