The Letters of Sylvia Plath: An Update

It seems to have been going on for ages, but The Letters of Sylvia Plath really took off sometime in 2011. Work began before this, by several years, but the daily grind of locating, transcribing and all the rest started about then. I think...

It has been the most immense privilege to get to work so closely with Plath's letters and archives, with Karen V. Kukil (the co-editor), with Frieda Hughes, and the very good people at Faber and HarperCollins on this project. Not to mention the archivists and librarians and private citizens who have offered tireless help and information.

After living with the manuscript in various states and sizes for so many years, it is with the utmost pleasure that I am publishing this blog post to let you know that the hundreds of letters comprising Volume 1 (1940-1956) is off my hands and has passed now the point of no return.

THANK YOU ALL for your support and patience during this project. You will never really know, and nor can I express in words, just how you each sustained me for the duration of this project. Every letter located, read, transcribed, annotated, edited, and proofed was done all for you and on the support of your shoulders. I am so thrilled to have this volume of the book at the publishers. To kind of quote Plath, "We have come so far, it is [nearly] over."

From Amazon.co.uk:

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) was one of the writers that defined the course of twentieth-century poetry. Her vivid, daring and complex poetry continues to captivate new generations of readers and writers.

In the Letters, we discover the art of Plath's correspondence. Most has never before been published and is here presented unabridged, without revision, so that she speaks directly in her own words. Refreshingly candid and offering intimate details of her personal life, Plath is playful, too, entertaining a wide range of addressees, including family, friends and professional contacts, with inimitable wit and verve.

The letters document Plath's extraordinary literary development: the genesis of many poems, short and long fiction, and journalism. Her endeavour to publish in a variety of genres had mixed receptions, but she was never dissuaded. Through acceptance of her work, and rejection, Plath strove to stay true to her creative vision. Well-read and curious, she offers a fascinating commentary on contemporary culture.

Leading Plath scholar Peter K. Steinberg and Karen V. Kukil, editor of The Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962, provide comprehensive footnotes and an extensive index informed by their meticulous research. Alongside a selection of photographs and Plath's own line-drawings, they masterfully contextualise what the pages disclose.

This selection of early correspondence marks the key moments of Plath's adolescence, including childhood hobbies and high school boyfriends; her successful but turbulent undergraduate years at Smith College; the move to England and Cambridge University; and her meeting and marrying Ted Hughes, including unseen letters post-honeymoon, revealing their extraordinary creative partnership.

Look for publication on 5 October (UK) and 17 October (US)!  At 1,424 pages (per Amazon), this volume of Plath's letters will be about fifty pages fatter than Faber's own Collected Poems of Ted Hughes. So, start lifting weights. I will have much more to say about the work that went into The Letters of Sylvia Plath project at the Sylvia Plath: Letters, Words, and Fragments Conference being organized by Plath scholar Maeve O'Brien. The conference will be hosted by the Ulster University, Belfast, on 10-11 November. The call for papers closes on 31 July, so please send your proposals in soon.

I guess I have to start thinking about Volume 2 now!

All links accessed 20 July 2017; blurb accessed 20 July 2017.