- I received an email about a Concert of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes settings called, 'Setting Agendas', to be held on 18 September, at 6pm, at St. Nicholas' Church, Chawton, Alton, Hamshire, GU34 in England.
This chamber concert features four song cycles by contemporary British composers, including settings of poems by Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Featured composers include Michael Finnissy, George Holloway,Will May, and Michael Zev Gordon. Works set include Plath's 'Winter Trees', 'Sheep in Fog', and 'The NightDances', and Hughes' 'Remains of Elmet' poety sequence. The latter is a world premiere by Michael Zev Gordon, winner of the 2008 British Composer Award for Choral Composition.
The works will be performed by soprano Lucy Williams, baritone Terence Ayebare, and pianist Lucy Coluquhn. Admission is free with a suggested £5 donation to St. Nicholas' Church. More information about thechurcn and its location can be found here. - Thanks to P. Viktor for pointing out an archived Women's Hour recording on "The Art of Sylvia Plath" from 5 November 2007. It's just over 11 minutes long. This is, wonderfully, seemingly, available everywhere. It's an interview with Kathleen Connors and Ruth Fainlight and includes a clip of an interview with Plath from "Two of a Kind." Ruth Fainlight reads "The Ghost", a poem she wrote about Plath. Kathleen Connors' and Sally Bayley's Eye Rhymes: Sylvia Plath's Art of the Visual is a remarkable book, heavily illustrated with high quality, clear reproductions of Plath's artwork and wonderful essays to discuss Plath's art. It's required reading for Plath's readers.
- Plath receives some coverage in Elaine Showalter's recently published A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Anne Proulx. (New York: Knopf, 2009). Plath is covered in some depth in the following sections: "The Poetess of America - Sylvia Plath" on pages 415-417 and "Plath - the Death of the Poet" and "The Bell Jar: A 1960s Jury of Her Peers" on pages 434-440.
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