The Sylvia Plath 2012 Symposium dominated my thoughts this year. From January through October it was all I could think about, and not just because I was giving a few papers: but it was a chance to meet some of you, talk Plath and other subjects, and learn faces and voices to accompany your written words via comments and emails. The Symposium did not disappoint. The chance, too, to spend some time in the archives at the Lilly Library was something most of the attendees took advantage of: and it was really wonderful to see people interacting with Plath's papers for the first time. A new strain of archives fever was born! A number of us there had attended all three of the Symposia (2002, 2007, 2012). While no awards were given out for that, it was a small sense of pride. Looking back through the blog to see what in the world was going on, largely from my perspective, in Sylvia Plathdom, shows quite a varied year. In January I spent a week at Smith College doing both some archives re...

In working through the photographs and files from the week in Bloomington, I have found the following that I thought others might like to see (primarily those who were not present, but also those who were because there is never enough). The first three are from the IU Art Gallery and features some of the works by Kristina Zimbakova and Linda Adele Goodine. The next are all from the "Transitions" exhibit in the Lilly Library. As we leave October behind, it can only be described as memorable. If you, dear reader, are so inspired to write something about your own experience with the archive: this is an open call for a guest post to get your impressions, which are as unique as snowflakes.

The following are reviews of Panels 2 and 9 by Lauren Benard, author of Plath Profiles 4 essay " Taking on a Mourning Her Mother Never Bothered With: Esther's Anguished Memory and Her Resistance to a Domestic Life in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar ". Thank you, Lauren, for these reviews, I know I am not the only one who appreciates it. Panel 2: The Bell Jar Peter K. Steinberg (the man behind the Sylvia Plath Info curtain) spoke on “Sylvia Plath: Palimpsestic Writer in The Bell Jar .” Steinberg opened by stating how Plath and Hughes often overwrote each other; however, rather than only focusing on the lexical connections between their works, it is important to understand her own influence on her writing. It is important to read her writing for her own intertextuality. The Bell Jar entrapped Plath as much as it worked for her as an enabling device. After the novel was published she better expressed her anguish. He shares that there are more than twenty similarities b...

This afternoon was also a good - no, a great - way to conclude the Symposium. As with the other post today, I've just decided to post my notes, relatively unedited! Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick: "Sylvia Plath and Trauma: Reading the October 1962 Poems" Part of a book on modernist and contemporary poets. Two terms in trauma studies are "acting out": nightmares and reliving experiences and "working through": the process of the subject trying to make sense of the traumatic experience. Attempts to come with a narrative that hangs together about that experience, enables her/him to begin to work through it, to put the episode behind her. "A Birthday Present" Calm and resigned voice anticipates "Edge" and "Words". Line "I am alive only by accident" is the trauma event about which the speaker needs to work through. Trauma leads to a fetishization of death. "Lady Lazarus" Founding trauma is part and parce...

Yesterday, in day 3 of the Symposium, David Trinidad's talk on the biographical references and sources to Plath's October poems was an inspired piece. For those that were there, I think we can all agree that we could have listened to David speak for about 17 more hours. Or more. Culled down from a large piece, David focused on the poems written after Hughes left Court Green including "Daddy" and "Eavesdropper" and "Lesbos", among others. An extremely careful and detailed work of art, David's essay was, quite well received, a highlight included a calendar layout of the month with the names of the poems written in on the days in which they were composed, and other significant events, as well as contextual photographs that are important to the poems including the photograph of Otto Plath standing at a blackboard, and photographs take by Gail Crowther of the home the Kane's in St. Ives (where Plath stayed the weekend of Ocober the 13th/14th), w...

This morning's panels and presentations by Maeve O'Brien, Christine Walde, and Karen Kukil was better than coffee. Below are rough notes taken during the talks and are relatively raw. But it is more important to get this out than worry about finesse, perhaps. Maeve O'Brien's presentation: "'Something in me said, now, you must see this': reconciling death and 'the empty beaches of memory' in 'Berck-Page'", brought much attention to "Berck-Plage", what she terms a "notoriously difficult" poem. Reframe poem to focus on new themes in the poem. So many of the things at Berck are still there, which gives a tangible grasp of what Plath saw and experienced. O'Brien cited the work of Gail Crowther (" The Playfulness of Time ") as well as Anita Helle and others. Silence - what Plath mentions, but also what is absent from her poetry. What is not revealed in the beach scene in Plath's "Berck-Plage...

The "Plath and Hughes" panel was nearly filled to standing room only, which illustrates how important a topic this is, likely to the chagrin of some. Helen Decker spoke on "Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes Side by Side: What I Can and Can't Tell You", Rai Peterson's paper was supposed to be on "Hughes and the Two Ariel 's" but she changed it to "An Efficiency, A Great Beauty": Sylvia Plath's Ariel Titles", and Georg Nöffke spoke on "These Super'People: The Superimpostion of Ted Hughes' 'Brasilia' on Sylvia Plath's 'Brasilia'". No one in the room was disappointed. The three presenters in the Walnut Room spoke clearly and expertly on their chosen topics. Decker has been at work on a book about Plath and Hughes for a while, and with any luck we'll see it soon for general consumption. She has been working both on Plath's and Hughes' appearances in periodicals together, as well as th...

The following is a guest post review by Jaime Jost (the  Plath Profiles author of " To See What She Saw: The Influence of Sylvia Plath " in Volume 4 and " 'Panic' over Puddle Jumping in Plath's 'Mothers' " published TODAY in the Volume 5 Supplement). Jaime was kind enough to review two panels: Panel 1: Plath and Religion; and Panel 5: Plath's Influences: Lowell and Sexton, the Qabalah. Please thank Jaime (and Bridget in the post before) for their wonderful write-ups, for their fresh perspectives on the Symposium panels, and for providing us with possibly otherwise lost impressions due to concurrent nature of the conference structure. Your work, effort, and insight are all highly-valued, very much appreciated, and a valuable contribution to your fellow Plath-heads. Panel 1: Plath and Religion Emma Komlos-Hrobsky, editor of Pinhouse Magazine in New York, presented her paper “‘The Black Amnesias of Heaven’: The God-Obsessed Atheist and...

The following is a review of Panel 5: "Plath's Influences: Sexton and Lowell, the Qabalah" and was kindly attended by and written up by Bridget Anna Lowe, author of the Plath Profiles 5 essay " Burning Free: Sylvia Plath's Summer 1962 Bonfires and the Strange Case of the Surviving Christmas Card ". I had the pleasure this morning of attending the Sylvia Plath Symposium's Panel #5 on the topic of "Plath's influence on/from other poets." The panel, which was comprised of three speakers, presented their papers in the following order: Sarah-Jane Burton on "Literary Influence and the Boston Trio: Plath, Lowell and Sexton;" KatieRose Keenan on "Plath and Sexton's Mutual Influence;" and, finally, last but certainly not least, Julia Gordon-Bramer on "Plath's Ariel : The Feminine Arrow into the Apocalypse." * * * Speaking first on the panel was Sarah-Jane Burton; in the approximately twenty minutes she wa...

Today was breakneck: nonstop: ceaseless: endless: a great day to be a Sylvia Plath reader. I highly anticipate giving a round-up of the day from my own perspective, and hope that some of the kind scholars who expressed interest in reviewing the panels that I could not sit in on have reports to me before too long about their impressions, too. I think it is important to present more than my voice and opinion in this; so if you're reading this and you were in the same panel I was: please consider writing something up from your own point of view. Please. This morning the literary panels began at 8:30. Or, circa 8:30. Certainly an early start time but the people that came to hear the darling Jess McCort (and author of " Sleeping Beauty Awake: Sylvia Plath through the Looking-Glass " and " Alice in Cambridge: Sylvia Plath, Little Girls Lost, and “Stone Boy with Dolphin” ") and myself discuss The Bell Jar were certainly wide awake and seemed to be eager listeners....

Lynda K Bundtzen began the day discussing Sylvia Plath’s psychotherapy, use of unconscious in 1958 poems. Making use of Plath's therapy notes with Dr. Ruth Beuscher, Lynda referred at times to Sigmund Freud's "Mourning and Meloncholia", Lacan, and Letters Home , and looking applicably at several poems by Sylvia Plath, among them "The Beekeeper's Daughter," "Man in Black," "Electra on Azalea Path," "The Colossus," "Daddy," and "Purdah." Langdon Hammer spoke on James Merrill’s use of Ouija Board for poetry inspiration. Hammer has been at work on a biography of Merrill for a decade which is most definitely a labor of love. It promises to be thorough and excellent, judging from the essays of his that I have read and the presentations through which I have sat. This was not a paper on Sylvia Plath, but Hammer did refer to Plath's practice of Ouijaing with Ted Hughes. Between this and the 1 o'clock p...

Notes on Catherine Bowman and David Trinidad, Suzie Hannah and Tom Simmons panel on archival-based poetic and research process, animated film and sound design, 24 October 2012, 1:30-2:50 Poetic based research, animated film, and sound design. By Susan McMichael What makes us Plathofiles? Is it a line? Is it a book (eg reading The Bell Jar , or a teacher? What happens when you are lucky enough to be in the Lilly Library with Sylvia Plath's works, boxes, things, and to examine the dresses she made as a child in the 1940s, the paper dolls, the ephemera, her paintings? What is text? Is it the poem? No, not at all. These people cry, it is this, and this, look and listen, see. All four of the presenters in this panel showed is how with colour and sound, what influenced Plath in creating her poetry. As someone fascinated by Sylvia Plath's work and life for more than 30 years, I found the works, separate from the archive, but clearly related to the poetry, more interesting. ...

Are you going to the literary panels at the Sylvia Plath 2012 Symposium?  On 11 October I requested that people attending consider taking notes during the panels sessions and writing up mini reviews to appear on this blog. Happily, I got two such takers immediately. But there are far more panels going on simultaneously for the three of us to faithfully report to this blogs readers. Therefore... So, the panel presentations pages is located here . What I'm proposing is that anyone interested in participating in this to please look for me Thursday, 25 October 2012, at 5:30 PM in the IMU Whittenberger Auditorium. Then, we can discuss what interests us and assign panels and papers to review. It shouldn't take too long, & so maybe we can go grab a drink & some food afterwards in town? Talk Plath? I didn't say this before, but the reviews should be to me as soon as possible after the presentation is given: ideally the same day. Full credit to you will naturally be g...

Today was a continuation of research into Sylvia Plath's pocket book calendars in the Lilly Library. I had to double-back to finish the 1954-1955 calendar and I am still in amazement at the level of recorded detail that is available. The other day I commented about how a visit to the archives to read through everything could mean never having to read a biography of Plath and I think I still stand by that: though obviously the biographer's narrative lends a particular color to her life's story. Which can be interesting; like in a similar fashion to criticism: it's far more interesting to read the original writing than criticism about that writing. Though often it is interesting to see how the critics make connections and bring out hidden elements. I spent a brief time re-looking at the Plath Mss materials that were acquired in 1961 as I needed to do some follow-up things. But I think the real focus of the day was the start of the Sylvia Plath 2012 Symposium. Today...

This morning I continued looking at Sylvia Plath's calendars in Plath mss II, Box 7, Folder 6. The calendar was October 1955 - early October 1956: or, her first year as a Fulbright Scholar at Newnham College, Cambridge University. The majority of the morning was spent comparing undated letters to a former boyfriend, J Mallory Wober, to the minute details Plath recorded in her calendar. The structure of her days at Newnham are meticulously recorded down the hour, including lectures, ADC rehearsals, meetings for tea and sherry, dates, letters written, papers due, food consumed, physical ailments: basically an encyclopedia of autobiography. Mostly likely caught up in the passion of the archive I will say that there is no need to read a biography of Sylvia Plath when one could simply come here (simply is most definitely not the right word since I believe this is one of the harder archives to get to - but it could be worse, no offense Wyoming: but it could be in Wyoming) and spent a we...

The following books will be for sale at the Sylvia Plath 2012 Symposium and many - if not all - of the authors will be on hand Saturday 27 October at 7:30 PM to sign. There may be additional books available, too. Sylvia Plath and the Mythology of Women Readers by Jane Badia Burning of the Three Fires by Jeanne Maire Beaumont Curious Conduct by Jeanne Maire Beaumont Fugue by Emily Bobo The Plath Cabinet by Catherine Bowman Notarikon by Catherine Bowman The Other Ariel by Lynda K. Bundtzen Divine Margins by Peter Cooley Among the Goddesses: An Epic Libretto In Seven Dreams by Annie Finch Calendars by Annie Finch The Unraveling Archive: Essays on Sylvia Plath edited by Anita Helle The Search Engine by Kathleen Ossip The Cold War by Kathleen Ossip Sylvia Plath by Peter K. Steinberg Dear Prudence: New and Selected Poems by David Trinidad The Late Show by David Trinidad

Indiana University, October 2002 The panels for the Sylvia Plath 2012 have been updated. Please revisit the panel presentations page to see the latest line-up. Although there is a recently discovered erroneous omission, I have been told the panel presentation page is final.

The Lilly Library at IU Bloomington The Lilly Library is a great place to conduct research. Many Sylvia Plath scholars will descend upon the library's reading room over the next two weeks. For some, it will be their first time working with Plath's manuscripts, for others it will be a long-overdue return to a great place. I have had the pleasure of conducting Plathian research in more than a dozen repositories and although they are all libraries: they each have different policies and procedures for handling the materials. The Lilly Library is a lot like Fort Knox: they are strict. But they have to be. Here is a list of some of the things I have learned in my five previous trips to the archive at Indiana University (as well as a few generally applicable things to keep in mind when working in libraries): 1. You'll only be allowed to work with one folder in one box at a time. 2. Ensure that the folder and all the papers with the folder remain fully on the desk at all t...

Did anyone read the list of featured speakers at the Sylvia Plath 2012 Symposium: The October Poems that I posted on 19 July" ? Did anyone see the subject of Heather " The Grief of Influence " Clark's talk? Well, here it is, again: Heather Clark on Otto Plath's FBI files, Plath’s German heritage? Journalist Dalya Alberge has written an article for The Guardian newspaper in London titled "FBI files on Sylvia Plath's father shed new light on poet." The focus of the article is Heather's subject, and how recently uncovered archival documents provide insight into Sylvia Plath's father, Otto Plath, who was briefly investigated by the FBI in October 1918. But if you cannot wait until October to hear what promises to be a gripping talk, click here to read the article . Update: 18 August 2012 Daily Mail runs similar report: but with more photographs... Read "FBI files on Sylvia Plath's father show he was investigated during World War I...