On Wednesday, 20 July, it was announced that Kirsten Dunst is set to make her directorial debut with a new adaptation of Sylvia Plath's only finished novel, The Bell Jar , starring Dakota Fanning in the lead role as Esther Greenwood. Since then, the news has gone viral which is not surprising in the least. In 2007, word spread that a film was in the works headlined by Julia Stiles and Tristine Skyler (screenplay), but unfortunately this project did not come to fruition. In fact, a blog post about the project was the second post ever here on the Sylvia Plath Info Blog. In May 2008, I posted a letter from Julia Stiles  herself on this blog about the project. We can and should lament that the Stiles/Skyler project never happened. I witnessed them conducting research at Smith College and provided information and resources when asked. So I know first-hand the lengths to which they went in creating a screenplay that would honor Plath herself and the work she did in writing The Bell ...

In Sylvia Plath's senior year at Bradford Senior High, 1949-1950, she was co-editor with Frank Irish of The Bradford . As with the previous posts covering Plath's first   and second  years at high school (posted on 1 July and 7 July, respectively), below is a list of those newspapers which were published during Plath's final year at high school. Here I describe the known contributions Plath made to The Bradford from the fall of 1949 to spring of 1950, as well as the instances where she was mentioned. The list of contributors for each issue appeared on page 2. If Plath's name appeared, I have listed the department and/or role. There are instances where Plath's name was not listed, which we can take to mean she contributed no content or was accidentally left off (though that seems doubtful). The departments typically were Features, News, Business, Sports, Typing, and Art. Each newspaper, excepting April 1949, was a four pages in broadsheet format. Each newspaper ...

This is the second post on Sylvia Plath's participation with and contributions to The Bradford . (Read the first was post .) This post looks at Plath's junior year of high school, 1948-1949. But first, a side-story. One of the first things I found when working with the archive was that Plath was the subject of a feature article on 20 December 1977. Kathleen Offenhartz's "Bradford Remembers: Sylvia Plath" is a measured piece with some revealing information. The article appears on pages 1 and 3. Upon reading page three, among several other things ye olde Archive Fever 103° took hold as re-printed there from an earlier issue of The Bradford was Plath's poem "Fog". Like me you might be saying, "But in none of the bibliographies of Plath's work is there an entry in the 1940s for a poem entitled 'Fog'." Well now: clearly we were mistaken. This 1977 find sent me hurtling back to the 1940s. I quickly found all 18 issues for the...

On a day in March, I visited Wellesley High School to look through old copies of the school newspaper, The Bradford . Sylvia Plath attended the school under its former name: Gamaliel Bradford Senior High. Also in its former location as the old school was razed a few years back. As a last minute decision, according to her diary, Plath decided to try out for The Bradford and was accepted to join the staff of the school newspaper. For the next three years, Plath was a contributor in many ways to the school paper, ultimately becoming its co-editor for her senior year, 1949-1950. The Bradford was then published six times a year. Usually around late October, right before Christmas, and then early February, late March, late April, and early June in time for graduation. Working through this archive proved very fascinating. Much of the paper is like the crummy paper in mass market paperbacks: its acidity eating it away to the point where it is very brittle and crumbly. This is the first ...

In addition to conducting my own research and writing on Sylvia Plath, one of the things I enjoy most is helping others with their research. I am truly flattered that so many people write to ask questions about Sylvia Plath. It means very much to me that I am a person to whom increasing numbers of scholars and readers come to for answers. However, because these reference queries take anywhere from one hour to several days, and because this is increasingly causing disruption to my own work, as of today I will charge a standard research associate rate for all Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes queries that come my way. The minimum will be for one hour's work at a fee of $30 per hour. In the last few years, I have hired research by proxy help for various Plath-related projects. I truly appreciate this assistance from others, but I do not expect them to give their time, knowledge and research findings for free. It seems that if I am to be used for similar purposes, then I too should get rec...

This post was revised on 17 July 2016. Several Sylvia Plath lots of typescripts and books were offered today at Bonhams Knighstbridge as part of their Fine Books, Manuscripts, and Original Illustrations sale. I listened to the action of the auction live online and let me just say my stomach was turning somersaults and I was feeling anxious...and I was not even bidding. It is exciting and thrilling to bear witness to these sales: a true rush full of wonder. The first five lots (167-171) were from the larger Plath archive that has been up for sale, piecemeal, after the whole archive failed to sell via Sotheby's in December 2014 . Initially only one of the lots sold, however in doing some follow-up research, I learned that all five lots in the end did sell. The second lots (172-174) are books formerly belonging to Winifred Davies, Plath's Devon midwife and friend. To sum these lots, the first two sold for above the high estimate and The Bell Jar lot sold for the high estimat...

As you know, I have been co-editing Sylvia Plath's letters with Karen V. Kukil of Smith College. It gives me great pleasure to let you know that recently we submitted the manuscript for The Letters of Sylvia Plath to Faber & Faber in London. This has been an incredible journey. I have learned so much about Sylvia Plath (and Ted Hughes). About their lives and publications, as well as events in Massachusetts, England, and other places. About culture and history. And so much more. I will give any updates I can on this blog, so for now please no questions regarding publication though I am sure you have many. Thank you all for your patience and support during this project.  My efforts were greatly enhanced by my best friends sugar and caffeine. The number of people that contributed to this project and their enthusiasm, support, and information has been extraordinary. Several people went above and beyond the call. You know who you are. It was a privilege of the highest or...