Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist and short story writer.
Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge, before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer.
She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956 and they lived together first in the United States and then in England, having two children together.
In 1982, Plath won a Pulitzer Prize posthumously, for The Collected Poems.
She also wrote The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her death.
Plath suffered from depression for much of her adult life, and in 1963 she committed suicide.
Sylvia Plath’s works fall into three distinct categories:
Poetry collections
- The Colossus and Other Poems (1960)
- Ariel (1965)
- Three Women: A Monologue for Three Voices (1968)
- Crossing the Water (1971)
- Winter Trees (1971)
- The Collected Poems (1981)
Collected prose and novels
- The Bell Jar: A novel (1963)
- Letters Home: Correspondence 1950–1963 (1975)
- Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams: Short Stories, Prose, and Diary Excerpts (1977)
- The Journals of Sylvia Plath (1982)
- The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, edited by Karen V. Kukil (2000)
Children’s books
- The Bed Book (1976)
- The It-Doesn’t-Matter-Suit (1996)
- Mrs. Cherry’s Kitchen (2001)
- Collected Children’s Stories (2001)
Here is a short film (made by R J Dent) about Sylvia Plath’s books:
Sylvia Plath
© R J Dent 2013
Tags: Ariel, Collected Childrens' Stories, Collected Poems, Colossus, Crossing the Water, Johnny Panic, Journals, Mrs Cherry's Kitchen, R J Dent, R J Dent's library, Sylvia Plath, The Bed Book, The Bell Jar, The It Doesn't Matter Suit, Three Women, Winter trees
September 22, 2013 at 3:27 pm |
This is really cool! Loads of books by Plath I didn’t know about – and good video of her books in your library. Excellent post. Made me order some of her books I don’t have. Thanks. S
September 29, 2013 at 8:02 am |
Do you not think that the family was doomed? – Sylvia dead from suicide (gassed), Ted Hughes’ next girlfriend, Assia Wevill, dead via copycat suicide (gassed); Ted and Sylvia’s son, Nicholas, dead from suicide (hanged), Ted Hughes – dead from cancer. Frieda Hughes survives and seems to be managing the estates remarkably well.