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Sylvia Plath: Double did you know...

Since October is, for us, unequivocally associated with Sylvia Plath, I thought I'd offer a special double did you know. I spoil you, I know.

In 1994-1995, Tim Kendall founded the magazine Thumbscrew. His hope was that it would be an "antidote to a London poetry scene which appeared to outsiders as cosy, self-savouring, mediocre." Did you know that
Thumbscrew 9, Winter 1997-1998, was a special issue on Sylvia Plath? The following is a list of citations for those articles which appeared in issue 9:

  • Adcock, Fleur. "Why Plath is (Not) Very Important to Me." Thumbscrew 9. Winter 1997-1998: 2-3.

  • Korelitz, Jean Hanff. "An Inexcusable Thing." Thumbscrew 9. Winter 1997-1998: 5-9.

  • Quinn, Justin. "Plath as Exemplar." Thumbscrew 9. Winter 1997-1998: 11-12.

  • Tyrrell, Patricia. "The Semtex Poet." Thumbscrew 9. Winter 1997-1998: 27-29.

  • Kinsella, John and Tracy Ryan. "'Farther Off Than Australia': Some Australian Receptions of Plath." Thumbscrew 9. Winter 1997-1998: 43-49.

  • Gammage, Nick. "Reading Sylvia Plath: An Unrecorded Publication of 'The Rabbit Catcher'." Thumbscrew 9. Winter 1997-1998: 55-56.

  • Phillips, Ivan. "A Mixed Marriage: The Strange Affair of Sylvia Plath and Paul Muldoon." Thumbscrew 9. Winter 1997-1998: 58-65.
The next issue, 10, featured two letters in response to issue 9, and a new essay by Rosemarie Rowley. Here are the citations for Thumbscrew 10.

  • Scammell, William. "Letters." Thumscrew 10. Spring 1998: 31.

  • Adcock, Fleur. "Letters ." Thumscrew 10. Spring 1998: 32.

  • Rowley, Rosemarie. "Electro-convulsive Treatment in Sylvia Plath's Life and Work." Thumbscrew 10. Spring 1998: 87-99.

The tone of these essays in
Thumbscrew 9, taken as a whole, is completely mixed, leaning towards the negative.

Little did you know that I hinted at the second "Did you know..." in the first group of citations from
Thumbscrew 9. Did you know that "The Rabbit Catcher" was published in The Observer on February 7, 1965? It was! On page 26. Gammage's revelation, not in Stephen Tabor's authoritative bibliography, could change the way some look at this poems supposed omission from the Plath's works prior to its appearance in Winter Trees in 1971/1972. Of course, it isn't likely Hughes sent/gave it to The Observer - more likely it was held over by a submission of Plath's from 1962. The history on that is as follows...

According to Plath's submission list (held by the Mortimer Rare Book Room at Smith College), she did send to Alvarez "Event", "The Rabbit Catcher", "Elm", "Crossing the Water", "An Appearance", and "Little Fugue" on June 30, 1962. Plath's practice was to underline those works which were accepted (sometimes she starred them as well). For this submission, "Crossing the Water", "Event" and "The Rabbit Catcher" were underlined. "Elm" was as well, but the underline was struck out. "Crossing the Water" appeared on September 23, 1962 on page 25. "Event" appeared on December 16, 1962, on page 21. It's a good bet that "The Rabbit Catcher" appearing in
The Observer prior to Ariel's publication in on March 11, 1965, was a surprise to Ted Hughes. Did The Observer print "The Rabbit Catcher" in anticipation of its (presumed) appearance it was going to be in the forthcoming Ariel?

The "Elm" strike through is interesting. Plath sent "Elm" to the
New Yorker on June 8, 1962 (along with "Three Women", "The Rabbit Catcher", and "Event"). By July 10, they were returned as rejected. Plath re-sent "Elm" on August 31, 1962 (along with five additional poems). This time it was accepted, on September 26. It would be interesting to look at the poems in the two batches to try to determine what made "Elm" stick out the second time around. Anyway, the New Yorker wanted to change the title. On October 10, 1962, Plath sent a letter to Howard Moss at the New Yorker accepting the title change from "Elm" to "The Elm Speaks". With this in mind, Plath probably crossed out the "Elm" acceptance from the Observer shortly after September 26; she did have a first reading contract them, after all. "The Elm Speaks", along with 6 other poems, were published in the New Yorker on August 3, 1963. One of these six poems had been held since being accepted in July 1960 (before Plath had her first reading contract with them)!

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