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Seventeen November 1949

Please review October 2010’s Double Did you know... as this post was alluded to at the end of it...

Sylvia Plath amassed nearly 50 rejection slips from Seventeen magazine before her first published story, “And Summer Will Not Come Again”, was published in the August 1950 issue.

But, did you know...
this was not her first publication/appearance in Seventeen?

In the November 1949 issue (pictured here), Plath had a contribution to the lead article “When I’m a Parent” for which she was paid, I believe, $10. The article begins,


“Sooner or later, every teen-ager says fervently: ‘When I’m a parent, I’ll do thus and so.’ If your mother or father show particular understanding, you make a mental note that you’ll treat your children as intelligently ... So we asked a number of you what your do’s and don’ts are...Here are the most illuminating and provocative. You said, ‘When I’m a parent...’”


Plath’s response to this question is anonymous: her name does not appear next to her quote. However, if you have access to the issue, see page 77. Plath’s response begins, “I will not pry...”

Plath received a letter from Seventeen letting her know of the acceptance of her “answer”, which is retyped in the letter she received on October 4, 1949. The letter is contained within her "Publications" scrapbook in Box 15 of Plath mss. II at the Lilly Library at Indiana University, Bloomington.

While other libraries likely hold Seventeen, I physically examined a copy held at the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advance Study of Harvard University. They own a run of bound Seventeen’s which includes all those issues in which Plath’s work appeared. In the past, I have also worked with bound volumes of Seventeen at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. as well. (The Call Number for this periodical is PN1993.S4.) You can see a list of Plath’s periodical publications over here.

I’ve been sitting on this since January when I read the letter at the Lilly Library and confirmed with the magazine held at the Schlesinger Library. This post and the information presented was assisted by the Everett Helm Visiting Fellowship.

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