Our good friend in Plath P H Davies has just blogged about the Frieda Hughes article in Vogue (UK) over on his website. Please give it a careful read. Also he gives more information on the exhibit of Sylvia Plath's drawings on at the Mayor Gallery in London .

Al Alvarez's reaction to Ted Hughes' "Last Letter" appeared on The Guardian 's website a short while ago. The article, from what I can tell & was told, was in Saturday's Review section of said newspaper. Elisabeth Gray's "Wish I had a Sylvia Plath" was reviewed by TheaterMania.com and by BroadwayWorld.com . I saw "Three Women" twice on Saturday and have a review of it; but with all this other news going on will wait a day or so to post it. Emily Banas at Indiana University Northwest has written the following news release: IU Northwest English professor William Buckley publishes Volume Three of Plath Profiles . You will find the announcement to which I refer in the title of this post within the news release.

Just found out about the following two articles published in 2010. Wootten, William. "'The Alchemical Power': The Literary Relationship of A. Alvarez and Sylvia Plath.” The Cambridge Quarterly 39:3. 2010: 217-236. Meyers, Jeffrey. “Sylvia Plath’s Mysterious Lover.” Yale Review 98:4. October 2010: 88-102. This appears to be Wootten’s first foray into Plath; while Meyers has previously published, at least, the following two articles: Meyers, Jeffrey. "Literary Allusions in Sylvia Plath's Journals." Notes on Contemporary Literature 32:1. Spring 2002: 9-11. Meyers, Jeffrey. "Sylvia Plath: The Paintings in the Poems." Word & Image 20:2. April-June 2004: 107-122. Meyers also gave Plath a little coverage in his Manic Power: Robert Lowell and His Circle (New York: Arbor House, 1987). Also in the news yesterday from the Telegraph is “ The language that lovers share is a 'window' into the state of their relationship ” by Richard Alleyne. This...

A few links to pass on this Wednesday... Kate Taylor of the New York Times announced on Monday 5 July that the fall 2010 production of Sylvia Plath’s “Three Women” by Robert Shaw’s Inside Intelligence will be paired with Edward Anthony’s “Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath” this fall at 59E59. A version of Taylor’s article appeared in print on July 6, 2010, on page C2 of the New York edition. BrodwayWorld.com , Playbill.com , and TheaterMania.com also report. Elisabeth Gray is interviewed here by Wendy Loomis at Mountainx.com . Look for Tony Mann’s “From Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar to the Bad Sex Award: A Partial Account of the Uses of Mathematics in Fiction” in BSHM Bulletin: Journal of the British Society for the History# of Mathematics , Volume 25, Issue 2, 01 July 2010, Pages 58 - 66. Someone’s created a Plath mural in Portland, Oregon .

This blog post kind of got away from me. If it's as nasty outside where you live as it is where I live, then maybe that's ok... Val Hennessey at the Daily Mail reviews Lesley McDowell's Between the Sheets in " Clever Girls with Terrible Taste in Men ." I read the book over the winter and found it lacking. Plath didn't belong in with the rest of the women for one reason: she didn't put up with Ted Hughes's infidelity. All the other relationships in the book were sadly portrayed and I kept screaming at the book "Leave the bastard!" These men, whether they or I knew it or not, taught me everything I need to know about relationships. The stories were repetitive and far too similar, and did not do much to make me interested in the lives or the writings of those featured. It was too the point that I dreaded reading the Plath chapter, which is the last chapter. But it read far better than I expected. This disappointment with the book in general ...

Thanks to Susan in Australia for this link to an audio interview (with transcript) of Helen Vendler discussing her recently published Last Looks, Last Books . Ariel by Faber is now available. Recently published online are two articles by Jessica Ferri , a Brooklyn based writer. See " In Which We Flay Ourselves Into Poets " on thisrecording.com and Writing Food, Writing Life on themillions.com. From last September, there is Ferri's " Another Side of Sylvia ," which is a review of Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams . The review of Johnny Panic has a few inaccuracies, such as "Stone Boy With Dolphin" far pre-dates "Mothers." And it was "Stone Boy with Dolphin," not "Mothers," that could have been part of "Falcon Yard" which was the title of Plath's first novel attempt. Hughes' infidelity was discovered in the summer of 1962, not spring. I'm drawing a blank here, but do we know what the title of th...

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.

Daniel Huws' Memories of Ted Hughes is now for sale in England. Published 1 April 2010 by Richard Hollis, Amazon.co.uk (& Amazon.ca) actually list the title as being in stock. Thanks to Cath in Bath for letting us know! Anne Stevenson is interviewed by Rosita Boland in " Going Against the Grain " in Saturday's issue of the Irish Times . Birthday Letters is mentioned in " When Grief Turns to Art " by Mark Feeney in Friday's Boston Globe . I recently stumbled upon " Reading Plath " in a journal called Kingfisher. This was published on pages 1-2, in 2002's Volume One, Number Three, Seventh Edition. Plath Profiles is accepting submissions still for volume 3, due out in the summer. There are two deadlines to note. For the general issue, 15 April is the date to keep in mind. The deadline is 1 April for those submitting papers on "Sylvia Plath and Material Culture." These papers should address materiality in ...

Grace Schulman's recent First loves and other adventures is now available from University of Michigan Press series Poets on poetry. In Schulman's book is the chapter "Plath and Yaddo". This title was published on January 15, 2010. University of Michigan Press also brought us the incomparable The Unraveling Archive: Essays on Sylvia Plath edited by Anita Helle. Plath's library on LibraryThing is slowly growing. It is now exceeds 500 books. The Helm Fellowship to Indiana University is massively responsible for this growth. I have dozens of pages of titles left to add, so please bear with me. I'll add further posts at random milestones. Later... On second notice, it appears that Schulman's "Plath and Yaddo" is reprinted. It appeared also in Paul Alexander's Ariel Ascending: Writings about Sylvia Plath (1985). So, not the new publication I was hoping it would be.

Slow week... The American Museum of Natural History in New York City is hosting a launch party for Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems about Birds on Wednesday, March 10, 6:30 pm, at the Kaufmann Theater, first floor - Enter at 77th Street. Ticket prices are $15 adults, $13.50 Members, students, seniors . The anthology features "Pheasant" by Sylvia Plath. Illustrations were done by David Allen Sibley. Shelia Griffin Llanas' Contemporary American Poetry-"Not the End, But the Beginning" features a chapter on Plath. This is published by Enslow Publishers. -- Unrelated - does anyone out there have the text of the poem "Sonnet: To a Dissembling Spring" handy? Copies exist at the collection at Indiana and within the Edward Butscher papers at Smith.

Later on this year (26 May), look for Anna Jackson's Diary Poetics: Form and Style in Writers' Diaries, 1915-1962 . New York: Routledge, 2010. I mention this, as there is a chapter on Plath, as one might expect. It is in the series Routledge studies in twentieth-century literature. ISBN is 9780415998314. Also, later this year (31 May), see Neil Corcoran's Shakespeare and the Modern Poet . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. I mention this, as there is a chapter on Plath, as one might expect, "Survivor of Cease: Shakespeare and Sylvia Plath in Ted Hughes's Poems." Luke Ferretter and Nephie Christodoulides have published articles in Woolf Editing/Editing Woolf: Selected Papers from the Eighteenth Annual Conference on Virginia Woolf: University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, 19-22 June, 2008 . Clemson, SC: Clemson University Digital Press, 2009, edited by Eleanor McNees and Sara Veglahn . See Nephie's essay "On Not Being Able to Paint: Writing In...

I recently learned of three new articles. Travis, Isabelle. "'I Have Always Been Scared of You': Sylvia Plath, Perpetrator Trauma and Threatening Victims." European Journal of American Culture Vol 28, No. 3. October 2009: 277-293. Tunstall, Lucy. "Aspects of Pastoral in Sylvia Plath's 'Child'." English Vol. 58, No. 222. Autumn 2009: 230-242. Wilcockson, Colin. "Ted Hughes' Undergraduate Years at Pembroke College, Cambridge: Some Myths Demystified." Agenda Vol. 44, No. 4/Vol. 45, No. 1. Winter 2009: 147-153. In the Wilcockson article, he was given permission to quote from Daniel Huws' forthcoming Memories of Ted Hughes, 1952-1963 , published on 1 April 2010 by Richard Hollis. Right now it only seems available through Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca . It's a good thing they invented airplanes. Also published by Richard Hollis on 1 April is Poems and Journals, 1960-1968 by Susan Alliston , Ted Hughes con...

A round-up of recent and relatively recent news, reviews, and stuff. David Trinidad, author of The Late Show , co-editor of Court Green , and teacher at Columbia College in Chicago, has recently published a beautiful elegy " For Nicholas Hughes " in The International Literary Quarterly 's November 2009 issue (9). Though I haven't yet read it, earlier this week Student Pulse published Sandra L. Meyer's " Examining Oppression Through the Lives and Stories of Sylvia Plath and Charlotte Perkins Gilman ." Harvard professor and poet Stephen Burt published " Smothered to Smithereens: The Poetics of Motherhood " in the current Boston Review . On a similar note, poet and novelist Nick Laird's " Poems for a Baby " appears in today's The Guardian . Though I missed it at first, on 30 December 2009, Paul Taylor at The Independent published " Writers' Archives: A Sad Estate of Affairs ." I suspect some of this bl...

Oh the weather outside is frightful, But Plathing is so delightful, And since we've no place to go, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! For In Other Words , the blog of the Toronto Globe and Mail , Judith Fitzgerald writes about " News of Hughes ", a story about a recent Sotheby's auction of correspondence between Ted Hughes and scholar Nick Gammage (editor of The Epic Poise: A Celebration of Ted Hughes ), as well as almost 400 rare and first editions. The little collection sold for £39,650 ($68,400). It should be pointed out that Olivia Cole at the Evening Standard wrote about this first in " How Ted Hughes let his imagination sparkle through letters to a fan ." Whilst randomly searching "Sylvia Plath" on Google, I found this reading guide to The Bell Jar published by Faber. Whilst randomly searching "Sylvia Plath" on blogs, I found this post by Amica Carmilla about an artist called Justin Fitzpatrick ....

More items of interest to pass on in addition to the recently published articles I posted on yesterday... EvaClaire Albion Wright, at the Sophian , the weekly student press at Smith College, ran an article this week on the Mortimer Rare Book Room, " Rare Book Room allows student interaction with charming collection ". As someone who has worked a lot in the Mortimer Rare Book Room, I can't say enough how wonderful and accurate this article was to read. Thanks to Gail Crowther for sending on " Church featured in BBC's Jam and Jerusalem desecrated by vandals ", an article that ran in The Telegraph . This is the Church that Court Green faces ; and about which Plath wrote about in the poem "The Moon and the Yew Tree" and the short story "Mothers". On 25 November, Olivia Cole of The Spectator reports Frieda Hughes will read with Don Paterson, herself, and others at the The Spectator Boardroom, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP betw...

There is an article in The Times by Ben Hoyle today on Ted Hughes and his recently discovered children's story, Timmy the Tug , written in 1956. The article, " Ted Hughes’s first children’s story has emerged after 50 years " is online here. This is the first time I remember reading about Jim Downer - and that Plath visited down in the winter of 1963 shortly before she died. Downer, and his wife Wendy, lived, according to Plath's addressbook (housed at Smith), at 214 Old Brompton Road in London. The article includes some of Downer's illustrations. Look for Timmy the Tug on 21 September. There is a companion article to the one above, entitled " Jim Downer and Ted Hughes's excellent adventure " by Alan Franks. An article that ran in the Marin Independent Journal mentions one of the most unique uses of Plath's poetry I can remember. In Jane Scurich's " Master Gardener: Garden Show focues on climate change, drought and sustainability ...

I received an email about a Concert of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes settings‏ called, 'Setting Agendas', to be held on 18 September, at 6pm, at St. Nicholas' Church, Chawton, Alton, Hamshire, GU34 in England. This chamber concert features four song cycles by contemporary British composers, including settings of poems by Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Featured composers include Michael Finnissy, George Holloway,Will May, and Michael Zev Gordon. Works set include Plath's 'Winter Trees', 'Sheep in Fog', and 'The NightDances', and Hughes' 'Remains of Elmet' poety sequence. The latter is a world premiere by Michael Zev Gordon, winner of the 2008 British Composer Award for Choral Composition. The works will be performed by soprano Lucy Williams, baritone Terence Ayebare, and pianist Lucy Coluquhn. Admission is free with a suggested £5 donation to St. Nicholas' Church. More information about thechurcn and its location can be found here . Th...

Here are some links and citations that might make for interesting summer weekend reading... Helen Broderick at the British Library has a new post, "Poetry, Places and birthdays" about processing the Ted Hughes papers. Includes a nice, clickable image. Erikka Askeland reviews 'Three Women" at the Edinburgh Festival in the Scotsman . Susan Zelenka's "Why Sylvia Plath’s story pisses me off" reviews Paul Alexander's "Edge" from Studio @ 620 at in The Daily Loaf . Hey, don't forget, Sylvia Plath didn't actually say, "Not that I’m bitter. Not that I’m vengeful. Not that I’m a keeper of slights." Paul Alexander, speaking for Plath (which is problematic) says this. Not that I'm bitter. Not that I'm vengeful. Not that I'm a keeper of slights... Shelley Blanton-Stroud recommends "Five books for book clubs who love Mad Men's Don and Betty Draper". The third book is Ariel: The Restored Edition . (Don...

Here are some links to interesting stories that have run in the last week or so. Philip Stone and Katie Allen at The Bookseller reports " BBC Season Lifts Poetry Sales " on 26 June. Plath book sales are up by 5,000 copies (or 92%) after the BBC's "Wuthering Heights" which aired on 12 May. Ben Myers at The Guardian blogs, " The Spirit of Hughes and Plath is Alive in West Yorkshire " on 23 June. Rosita Bolad of the Irish Times reports " A Poet Clears His Shelves " on 20 June. Maggs of London is offering for sale the books from Richard Murphy's library. Among the many books are several Plath items... Liat Elkayam's review " They Came to Praise Assia " appeared in Haaretz on 18 June 2009. A review of Eilat Negev and Yehuda Koren's biography of Assia Wevill, recently translated into Hebrew. The book's title is Hayeha U'mota shel Assia G.: Hatzela Hayisraelit ben Ted Hughes LeSylvia Plath , or The Life and Death ...

Here is a little list of new/updated Sylvia Plath related things! The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill currently has an exhibit going called JOYCEAN GENEROSITY, JOYCEAN BOOKS . There are a number of Plath items featured in this exhibit. They are: 'Among the Narcissi'. Ashington, Eng.: Mid Northumberberland Arts Group, 1971. First separate edition. Lyonesse . London: Rainbow Press, 1971. Number 95 of 100. The Colossus . New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962. Author's presentation copy to Alfred Young Fisher. The Three Women: A Monologue for Three Voices . London: Oficyna Stanislawa Gliwy, 1968. Setting copy and proofs for second edition. Thanks to April Brewer for the list of specific Plath items. For more information: On exhibit April 17 - June 30, 2009 Melba Remig Saltarelli Exhibit Room | Wilson Special Collections Library Free and open to the public | Exhibit information: (919) 962-1143 or rbcref@email.unc.edu - - - - - - - - - -...