In November 2010 I visited for a day the Hornbake Library at the University of Maryland, College Park, to work with the Frances McCullough papers. Recently browsing through the notes made there, I was reminded about a "Did you know..." post that I wanted to write. So it only took me 12 years... The UK edition of Plath's Winter Trees  was published on 27 September 1971. The American edition was issued 51 weeks later on 20 September 1972.  In working with the proofs of the book that are there, I noticed some additional text in the preliminary pages of one of these editions. Did you know... the US edition prints a caution opposite the "Note" by Ted Hughes which is absent from the Faber counterpart? Faber Harper & Row CAUTION Lawless Americans!

A small note in the Journals of Sylvia Plath indicates that the 1962 journals that form Appendix 15 were "arranged thematically by the editor as SP did not indicate a specific order" (703). They date by and large to the period after the birth of Nicholas Farrar Hughes on 17 January 1962 and continue to early July 1962, just after Percy Key's funeral. In this space of time, Plath wrote her long dramatic poem for three voices "Three Women", and a host of other "Ariel"-voice poems such as "Elm", "Little Fugue", "The Rabbit Catcher" and "Berck-Plage" as well as beautiful poems like "Pheasant" and "Among the Narcissi". When reading these journals, you can see the cross-over between the capturing of private experience in her journals and the reshaping of it in the art of her poetry, particularly in "Among the Narcissi" and "Berck-Plage" which both feature Court Green cottage nei...

Douglas Cleverdon in 1963 The Lilly Library holds the " Cleverdon mss II, 1926-1988 ". Within this collection ( see the finding aid ) are several Sylvia Plath related items. There are Sylvia Plath related items in the series "Writings by Others," Correspondence, BBC Registry, Program notes, and an audiotape containing "Lady Lazarus" and "Daddy" (see Box 7). In the Scripts subseries, there are transcripts of "Three Women" as broadcast on August 19, 1962, and the poem "Crossing the Water" with commentary by Ted Hughes as broadcast on July 5, 1971. In the correspondence series there are letters to or from Olwyn Hughes and Ted Hughes. Per an archivist at the Lilly, there are two letters from Olwyn Hughes, only one of which discusses Plath. The letter that discusses Plath is from 28 May 1971 and lists poems Ted Hughes prefers for Crossing the Water . The correspondence with Ted Hughes, however, does not mention Plath bey...

A Piece of Plathery has reviewed a recent performance of "Three Women" by Sylvia Plath , directed by Melanie Thomas and produced by Caged Bird Productions. In addition to Plathery's review, if you missed them, you can see photos from rehearsals in two previous posts: this one and that one .

Director Melanie Thomas has sent over four additional photographs from her production of "Three Women" by Sylvia Plath. Enjoy! And if you make it to a performance please let us know. Carly Grayson as the Third Woman - "A hot blue day had budded into something." Narda Shanley as the Second Woman - "The sun is down. I die. I make a death" Gabrielle Savrone as the First Woman - "Their footsoles are untouched. They are walkers of air." (L-R) Narda Shanley, Carly Grayson, Gabrielle Savrone -  "I shall meditate upon normality. I shall meditate upon my little son."

Director Melanie Thomas of Caged Bird Productions has been kind to share with us some photographs from the rehearsal of "Three Women" by Sylvia Plath, which opens tomorrow, 9 October, for a limited engagement at The Owl and the Pussycat, 34 Swan St Richmond VIC 3121, in Melbourne, Australia. (L to R): Narda Shanley as the Second Woman, Carly Grayson as the Third Woman (lying down) and Gabrielle Savrone as the First Woman. Carly Grayson as the Third Woman, Gabrielle Savrone as the First Woman, Narda Shanley as the Second Woman Carly Grayson as the Third Woman Gabrielle Savrone as the First Woman Narda Shanley as the Second Woman   LISTING INFORMATION Title: Three Women Dates: 9 - 14 October Times: 8.30pm; Saturday 13 October 12.30pm and 8.30pm (50min) Venue: The Owl and the Pussycat, 34 Swan St Richmond VIC 3121 Tickets: Full $20 / Concession $18 Bookings: Online or call 03 9660 9666 CONTACT INFORMATION Facebook Page Media Enquiries: E-mai...

Sylvia Plath's "Three Women" will be performed on stage in Melbourne, Australia from 9 to 14 October 2012. I am a great event. I am dying as I sit. I lose a dimension. I undo her fingers like bandages: I go. "Highly intricate and with an uncompromising, confessional style, Sylvia Plath's "Three Women" is a decidedly multifaceted poem based on three very distinct experiences of pregnancy: becoming a first-time mother, trying to survive yet another loss of a child and the difficult choices of giving a child up for adoption. "With special permission by the Estate of Sylvia Plath and Faber and Faber Ltd, Caged Birds Productions brings to stage Plath's only script, written one year before her untimely demise, whose delicately layered voices question existence, the ache of belonging and delve into shrouded emotional experiences of childbirth." Below is information you need to know from the official media release! Acclaimed poet...

"Three Women" by Sylvia Plath, and "Elegy for a Lady" by Arthur Miller, are going to be performed at Cleveland's Kennedy's Theatre this spring. The shows will be on Fridays and Saturdays from April 13 through April 28 and May 11 through May 26 at 8 pm. There will be one Sunday Matinee on April 29 at 3 pm. Tickets are $15. Kennedy's Theatre is located at PlayhouseSquare, 1501 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH.

Helen Eastman of Live Canon is directing two performances of Sylvia Plath's verse poem "Three Women." Performed by Holly Atkins, Rebecca Blackstone, and Helena Johnson, theater-goers and poetry lovers alike, in London on 8 July and 14 July can enjoy Plath's words live. When I saw/heard Robert Shaw's production of "Three Women" in New York City last fall, "Three Women" was absolutely transformed for me as a poem & as a work of art. Eastman's "Three Women" will be on at the Greenwich and Bloomsbury Theatres. See eflier here for more information.

Among Robert Shaw’s directions to to his “Three Women” include the short, simple “Trust Sylvia.” After successful runs in London and Edinburgh, “Three Women” came to New York. The theater at 59 E. 59th Street sits squarely in between the Barbizon Hotel and 575 Madison Avenue, where Plath lived and worked in June 1953 as a Guest Editor for Mademoiselle . It is an area she got to know well in those weeks and so seems a great fit. “Three Women,” along with Edward Anthony’s “Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath,” is part of 59E59’s “A Plethora of Plath.” They have three theaters, and I wish they could have also staged something like “Dialogue Over a Ouija Board” or a reading of Ariel or something. But then I might have exploded in all the Plathcitement." “Three Women” is something I only ever imagined hearing: not seeing. Plath wrote it for the radio and the purist in me wanted it to stay that way. (I was tempted to just shut my eyes and listen, but being in the second row I thought that mi...

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...

Alexis Soloski blogs on The Guardian's website about Sylvia Plath's "Three Women" and more in " What makes a play unstageable ?" Of course, I'm in the camp that views "Three Women" as a poem based on how Plath refers to it in Letters Home and how typescripts I've seen held in various archives call it "A Poem for Three Voices." Some of these are contemporary to its first radio broadcast in August 1962, too. But, I'm also open to it being produced and termed as a play, given the narrative structure.

Somehow I missed Alexis Soloski’s write up on the imminent Robert Shaw production of Sylvia Plath's “Three Women” at Manhattan’s 59E59 Theaters on the Sept.21st. While the article has been online for a few days, it just ran in Sunday's (Sept. 26) print edition, see page 7 in the AR section. Read the article here .

Now that fall is here (Hello Fall), let’s take a brief look at what people in New York City have to look forward to this season. Broadway World has a preview of Robert Shaw’s production of Sylvia Plath’s “Three Women” . and Edward Anthony’s “Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath” starring Elisabeth Gray . New York Theater Guide has also written up “ Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath ”. I’ve recently had an email from Robert Shaw stating that rehearsals are underway in Manhattan with the cast starring Francis Benhamou, Angela Church, and Kina Bermudez. I’m told that the set will be slightly redesigned from the performances in Edinburgh (for any repeat attendees). Look for some media coverage around 3 October in the New York Times. You can find more information on “ Three Women here ” and on “Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath” here . And, don’t forget that Plath is being inducted into Poet’s Corner in New York’s own Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Read about it here . If you happen to live in England, y...

From 5-31 October at New York City's 59E59 Theaters , you can see Three Women by Sylvia Plath, directed by Robert Shaw. Robert recently sent me the cast list with the intention that this blogs readers be amongst the first to know! The full cast is: The Wife - Francis Benhamou The Secretary - Angela Church The Student - Kina Bermudez If anyone out there is planning to attend and feels charitable to assist in bringing Three Women to New York & to an American audience, please consider a donation to Three Women's page on Kickstarter , a fund-raising project started by the director. There is even a short video excerpt of one of the previous performances. Lastly, the event that is Three Women is now on Facebook .

Tickets are on sale for both Robert Shaw’s Three Women by Sylvia Plath and Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath by Edward Anthony performed by Elisabeth Grey. Both shows are on at 59E59 Theaters at 59 East 59th Street, New York, New York 10022. Both shows are on from 5-31 October (see links above for performance times and ticket prices). Obviously the day to go would be Wednesday, 27 October. I’ve got mine; have you yours?

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 .

Robert Shaw's critically acclaimed production of "Three Women" by Sylvia Plath will be on stage at 59E59 Theaters in New York City from 4 to 31 October 2010. Shaw's "Three Women" debuted at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London in January 2009 and also played the Edinburgh Festival in August. The location of the theater is perfect before it's the same area Plath was familiar with during June 1953. It's four blocks by one block from the Barbizon at E. 63rd & Lexington Avenue and two blocks by one block from Mademoiselle's offices at 575 Madison Avenue. Shaw says, "I'm thrilled to be bringing our production home to the the land of Sylvia Plath's birth. I'll be recasting all the roles and I'm looking forward to working with US actors on this iconic play. I'll be in New York in May and will be holding preliminary meetings with actors at that time." Actors looking for information on "Three Women" can find it ...

By and large, the biggest - and saddest - news this year was the death of Nicholas Hughes by suicide in March. Plath said it best, "A smile fell in the grass." In January , London was treated to Robert Shaw's production of Plath's "Three Women". The play was on at Edinburgh in August and I'm still hopeful the company can come west to Boston or New York. While the play received mostly positive reviews, from the standpoint of bring Plath's words to a greater audience it was a huge success. Also in January, the website ladylazarus.tv was launched by Florian and Sonja Flur. The website has been updated so please check back to it! The Flur's visited Boston in March and we met up so that I could show them the Plath sites. It was a very memorable day - certainly one of the best of the year - and they were very gracious guests. In April we voted "Three Women" to be our favorite poem in the 2009 Sylvia Plath Poetry tournament. ...