Today we (Gail Crowther, David Fitzwilliam, and I) visited Heptonstall to see the gravesite of Sylvia Plath. It was during a snowstorm; the winds were vicious and snow was blowing and drifting everywhere; it had to be seen to be believed, which is why I took some video. The village of Heptonstall was quite and we were the first to traipse to the grave. After visiting the grave, we walked up through the village and into Heptonstall Slack to see the Beacon, where the house was exposed to the full force and fury of the storm. The road at the bottom of the images (and video) was impassable from the snow drifts. Retiring after this exertion for a coffee at the Cross Inn was well earned to warm up before facing the rest of the day. This was my fourth visit to see Plath's grave and the first since 2003, which was in February of that year but at that time the weather was crisp and fine. Today's weather made for quite a surreal experience in what has been an truly magical, mysterious

Yesterday's preview of "These Ghostly Archives 5: Reanimating the Past" was very fun to do. A very big thank you to Plymouth University and to Rachel Christofid​es, Robin Peel, and Kathryn Gray for hosting us and coordinating the event, and to all of those who attended, including - & I only know a few people's names - Elizabeth and William Sigmund, Andrew Wilson, Marcus, Nick Smart, and Rosemary Clark. There was a lively question and answer session after a drinks reception and no doubt the wine helped with that! Gail and I had to massively cut down our paper for the talk, but the full contents will appear this summer in Plath Profiles 6, though the summer seems quite far off with the wind and rainy howling outside. The advantage to the talk was that we could quote from the letters Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes wrote, as well as show images of the manuscripts we discuss, too. Please know that with rare exception, you can request and order photocopies or scans of a

Sylvia Plath slept here in 1962. Where is here? When in 1962? Find out either Wednesday at Plymouth University or in Plath Profiles  6 this summer in "These Ghostly Archives 5: Reanimating the Past" by Gail Crowther and this blogs owner.

The Paper Doll catalog (ISBN: 0-88828-217-6) accompanying the exhibit by the same title is a well put together book. The exhibit appeared at the Owens Art Gallery from 16 September to 6 November 2011 , and at the Mendel Art Gallery from 30 March to 10 June 2012 . Both in Canada. Normally I like to be more timely with reviews like this, but found this buried in my list of documents. Sorry! The cover image (pictured left) features a single paper doll outfit by Sylvia Plath from circa 1945-1946. Inside the book are three gorgeous full-page illustrations of Plath's paper dolls from the Sylvia Plath mss. II collection at the Lilly Library, Indiana University at Bloomington, as well as a roughly two page review of the Plath component to the exhibit. Curated and written by Anne Koval, the Plath piece is really well done; I cannot profess to possess any knowledge of paper dolls, so will spare everyone reading this any further critique. I like that Koval quotes from Plath's p

Mortimer Rare Book Room, © Gail Crowther, 2011* In 7 days - one week - Gail Crowther and I will give our much anticipated (ha ha) talk on Sylvia Plath and archives in "These Ghostly Archives 5: Reanimating the Past" at Plymouth University. Can you stand it? Are you going to be there? Thank you in advance if you are! Can you not make it? No worries, read it in Plath Profiles 6 to be published this summer. In a practice run through the paper last weekend via Skype, we discovered that it was more than 75 minutes so had to cut out entire sections! Whether or not you can make it, why not take the next few days to catch-up, familiarize, or re-familiarize yourself with the series of papers, published between 2009 and 2012. These Ghostly Archives (2009) These Ghostly Archives, Redux (2010) These Ghostly Archives 3 (2011) These Ghostly Archives 4: Looking for New England (2012) In "These Ghostly Archives 5: Reanimating the Past" we have something for ev

Filmmaker Melodie Bryant is working on a documentary film about The Barbizon Hotel for Women. She is offering kindly us access to a trailer for her film , which I am happy to pass along to you. One of the interviewees in the trailer is Janet "Betsy/Pollyanna Cowgirl" Wagner from Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar . You can see more about the film at BarbizonMovie.com . P.S.: You will learn and hear more from Janet Wagner and Plath's time at Mademoiselle in Elizabeth Winder's forthcoming book Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953, which is due to be published on 16 April 2013 by HarperCollins .

Gail Crowther and I will give a preview of "These Ghostly Archives 5" at Plymouth University in two weeks, on 20 March 2013 . The talk will take place in the Rolle Building, Room 605, at 6 PM. It will be followed (and likely preceded!) by a drinks reception. In "These Ghostly Archives 5: Reanimating the Past", Gail and I converse about recent archival finds including new Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes correspondence and photographs. We cover a lot of ground, including documents from at least nine archives in three countries (Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States). At least nine archives - seriously - I lost count! All five papers have all been written over email and this is the first time we will be speaking the text. We are excited and hope that you are as well. Advance notice of the talk appeared recently in the Plymouth Herald article "Previously unknown Sylvia Plath artifacts revealed in talk on the poet at Plymouth University" . We wo

Please keep in mind that the deadline for Plath Profiles Volume 6 is in one month, 1 April 2013, at 7 PM (Eastern US Time) Submissions of your work on Sylvia Plath for Plath Profiles that are received after 1 April (that is, after 7:00:01 p.m. on 1 April) will be considered on a case-by-case basis but will more than likely be held out for the following volume. Deadlines are deadlines, after all. And for the love of Plath, please read and follow the submission guidelines . *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Perhaps I do not even need to post anything about it, especially so far in advance, but for some reason it seems necessary and/or appropriate. After Volume 6 of Plath Profiles goes live this summer, I will cease to be affiliated with the journal. It has been an honor to work with its contributors and correspond with its readers; however, after very long consideration I have decided this is the best course of action for me to take. I anticipate helping to promoting future issu