As the seats in the room began to fill, the nerves left me almost immediately: like morning valley fog burning off when the sun reaches a certain point in the sky. I became instantly happy. Jonathan Bengston (University Librarian ), Lara Wilson (Director of Special Collections and University Archivist), and Christine Walde (Plath scholar, Awesome-sauce and Grants and Awards Librarian) welcomed the standing and sitting room only crowd to Room 210 in the Mearns Centre for Learning at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia. Their comments brought the assembled listeners up to speed with the context for the lecture/talk they were about to hear. 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the Special Collections at the university. The library holds some remarkable acquisitions including manuscripts and typescripts by Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, as well as letters by Hughes. Indeed, some of the letters were written by Hughes with Plath in the room with him, giving present, sti...

Although the announcement was made several days ago and nearly broke the internet... I am really pleased to post on the blog that Director of Special Collections and University Archivist Lara Wilson and Grants and Awards Librarian Christine Walde of the McPherson Library at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, have invited me to give a lecture on Sylvia Plath. That is the second longest sentence recorded in history (see Henry James). On 27 October 2016, at 4:30 pm, I will be giving a talk entitled: "'She wants to be everything': Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar , Letters, and Archives". Here is the brilliant, sleek looking poster they made up for the event, which is helping to celebrate 50 years of the University's Special Collections. This is Sylvia Plath on Mount Monadnock, New Hampshire, from circa 17 July 1954. The photograph is from the Lameyer mss, Lilly Library, Indiana University at Bloomington. So, if you are in the Victori...

I love finding aids and the internet. I just found a finding aid for a small Plath/Hughes (primarily Hughes) collection held in the McPherson Library at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The finding aid is online here . Their holdings related to Plath are: "Afternoon at Hardcastle Crags" story by Sylvia Plath, 1 typed page numbered "6". "Side-Hall Girl" story by Sylvia Plath, 1 typed page numbered "2". "The Shadow" story by Sylvia Plath, 1 typed page numbered "3". "The Devil of the Stairs: Poems by Sylvia Plath" Title page only of typed MS by "Sylvia Plath / 26 Elmwood Road / Wellesley, Massachusetts" (An early title for The Colossus, Hughes states: "in May 1959 she wrote: 'Changed title of poetry book in an inspiration to The Devil of the Stairs. . . this title encompasses my book and "explains" the poems of despair, which is as deceitful as hope is.' T...