The Spoken Word Sylvia Plath CD has reached #1 in Audio Poetry and Drama on Amazon.co.uk .

Poet, writer, and blogger P. Viktor has two reviews of the British Library's Spoken Word: Sylvia Plath CD. The first, posted on 26 April, is a review of the disc itself. Read " Sylvia Plath - The Spoken Word, Review. " The second, posted today, is a more critical look at "Two of a Kind" & the marriage of Plath and Hughes. Read " Sylvia Plath - The Spoken Word: Why the Plath-Hughes Marriage Failed. " Over at Amazon.co.uk, Cathy Earnshaw (love the name) gave a five-star review, too.

The recent news of the copy of Saint Botolph's Review formerly owned by Ted Hughes being acquired by the British Library was welcome. And for the sake of this blog post, which has been in the works & in the queue since February, the timing could not have been better. For it involves the location of Sylvia Plath's copy of Saint Botolph's Review . Touché! The Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia has eight books formerly belonging to Sylvia Plath. Of particular note is that this repository holds Sylvia Plath's copy of the Saint Botolph's Review , of which an image is featured below . Like Hughes' copy, there is a some kind of liquid stain on the front cover. Though we know Plath bought her copy from Bert Wyatt-Brown on or near Queens Bridge on Silver Street, did the stain happen before or after she "got drunk, very very beautifully drunk" on the evening of 25 February 1956? I have long wondered where this copy was, have yo...

The following is a review of the British Library's recent publication The Spoken Word and is written by Dr. Gail Crowther. Sylvia Plath Speaks: a review of The Spoken Word First, there is the packaging. Slick hues of black and grey with dashes of red and yellow. The disc case sits comfortably in the palm of your hand. Turn it over to see the track listings, all the surviving BBC broadcasts from the years 1960-1963. Remove the booklet; a flash of yellow on the back page with the distinctive British Library logo. Open the first page and fall straight into Peter K Steinberg’s introduction. Sharp, authoritative and full of energy, he guides us through the contents of the CD, telling us what to listen out for, bringing alive the sound of Plath’s breath, the shuffling of her papers, the background sniggering of her interviewer as she makes another Esther Greenwood-like wisecrack. This introduction also prepares us for the sheer output and involvement that Plath had with the BBC in that...

The new British Library Spoken Word CD Sylvia Plath is garnering much interest. Concurrently, the British Library have announced the acquisition of Ted Hughes' copy of the Saint Botolph's Review , complete with wine stains from a Luke Myers bicycling accident! The news first appeared via the Herald de Paris in their article " Library Acquires Stained Ted Hughes Journal ." This timing of this acquisition, which they've known about for sometime, is likely intentional as the Spoken Word CD includes Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes in conversation discussing their lives together, how they met, etc.. How they met is the stuff of legend, captured with rapture by Plath in her journal the morning after. The Independent 's article " The Poetry of Courtship: Plath and Hughes Caught on Tape " by Jonathan Browne is a little uneven (they had been married nearly five years when the recording of "Two of a Kind" was made). The title of the article itself is a...

The newspapers and internet sources have caught wind of the British Library's newest Spoken Word CD. Rachel Hayward at Cuture24 has the distinct honor of being the first news story I've seen on this new Sylvia Plath publication. Read her " Listen to Poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes " here. The British Library has a nearly 8 minute podcast , too. Richard Fairman , producer of the Spoken Word series, discusses this enlightening CD which includes Sylvia Plath reading her own work and an interview with Plath and her husband, Ted Hughes, discussing their relationship and writing. Interviewed by Ellie Russell .

The Spoken Word: Sylvia Plath is published today in the United Kingdom. If you haven't already ordered your CD, click here , and enter the voucher code BLPLATHBLOG to receive 10% off your purchase. University of Chicago Press will release the CD around 1 May (this does represent a slight delay based on previous blog posts & expectations). Click here to order from them (you will also receive 10% off). The disc, which runs 73 minutes long, contains the following tracks, which are read by Plath unless otherwise noted: 1. Leaving Early 2. Candles 3. Two of a Kind (with Ted Hughes and Owen Leeming) 4. Introduction to Mushrooms 5. Mushrooms 6. Introduction to Pike (by Ted Hughes) 7. Pike (by Ted Hughes) 8. Introduction to The Living Poet 9. Introduction to The Disquieting Muses 10. The Disquieting Muses 11. Introduction to Spinster 12. Spinster 13. Introduction to Parliament Hill Fields 14. Parliament Hill Fields 15. Introduction to The Stones 16. The Stones 17. Introduction to Syl...

Recently published is Last Looks, Last Books: Stevens, Plath, Lowell, Bishop, Merrill by Helen Vendler. The deadline for general submissions for Plath Profiles 3 is next Thursday, 15 April. Submissions closed last week for special papers on "Sylvia Plath and Material Culture". Late submissions will be considered for publication in Plath Profiles 3, but may be held over at the discretion of the editors. If you pre-ordered your copy of The Spoken Word: Sylvia Plath from the British Library, look for this to ship next week as its publication date is 14 April. If you pre-ordered from University of Chicago Press, look for this after 20 April, its US publication date.

Robert Shaw's critically acclaimed production of "Three Women" by Sylvia Plath will be on stage at 59E59 Theaters in New York City from 4 to 31 October 2010. Shaw's "Three Women" debuted at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London in January 2009 and also played the Edinburgh Festival in August. The location of the theater is perfect before it's the same area Plath was familiar with during June 1953. It's four blocks by one block from the Barbizon at E. 63rd & Lexington Avenue and two blocks by one block from Mademoiselle's offices at 575 Madison Avenue. Shaw says, "I'm thrilled to be bringing our production home to the the land of Sylvia Plath's birth. I'll be recasting all the roles and I'm looking forward to working with US actors on this iconic play. I'll be in New York in May and will be holding preliminary meetings with actors at that time." Actors looking for information on "Three Women" can find it ...

Let's get back to serious things: I learned yesterday about "Lucent Figs and Suave Veal Chops: Sylvia Plath and Food", an essay Lynda K. Bundtzen in the Winter 2010 (Vol.10, No.1) issue of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture . The essay is on pages 79–90.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Oprah's Book Club has made their 2010 selection and is set to unveil the winner when the Oprah Winfrey Show broadcasts today, April 1, 2010. In a bold move, the selection committee chose an older title which was published in 2004 and which, according to statistics, has been read by fewer than 6 people. The move to choose Sylvia Plath by Peter K. Steinberg was made, according to Winfrey, "due to Plath's iconic status not just in the literary world, but for the high quality and continuity of the self-perpetuating family drama." Winfrey added, "Like Plath said, it's 'An engine, an engine.'" The selection committee included two stars of MTV's Jersey Shore and former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, all of whom knows something about drama. "The Situation", illustrating some Plath knowledge, texted, "She b kool. Id frend her on fb. I rhymes alls the times." JWoww, the other Jersey Shore celebrity judge, relat...

Welcome to Ted Hughes Info, aka The Blog in the Rain, a blog dedicated to the life, works and legacy of Poet Laureate Ted Hughes. Inspired by the recent news of a permanent memorial for Hughes in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey, this blog supersedes Sylvia Plath Info. All Sylvia Plath focused posts will be deleted by the end of the week and all sidebar links will, over the course of the next few days, be made more Hughes-specific. By 15 April, the new URL will be announced and "ownership" of the blog will be transferred to a friend, at which point also my own internet presence will be control+x'd. To get started, here is a list of recent and forthcoming books about Ted Hughes: Daniel Huws' Memories of Ted Hughes, 1952-1963 . Nottingham: Richard Hollis, 2010. Edward Hadley's The Elegies of Ted Hughes . Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010 Daniel Xerri's Ted Hughes' Art of Healing . Bethesda: Academ...