Largest gathering ever of Plath scholars to convene at IU Bloomington

By Susan Williams

Plath

'The agony of learning' Sylvia Plath (above) listened to a reading by W.H. Auden while at student at Smith College in 1953. After the reading, she wrote in her journal: "Oh, god, if this is life, half-heard, glimpsed, smelled with beer and cheese sandwiches and the god-eyed tall-minded ones, let me never go blind or get cut off from the agony of learning."

Ran

Her life and work will be examined at Indiana University, Oct. 31-Nov. 3, in a 70th year commemoration and literary symposium. The event, hosted by the IU Bloomington Department of English, the IUB Office of the Chancellor, and the schools of Fine Arts and of Music in Bloomington, will feature lectures, panels and discussions of Plath's literary achievements by noted scholars, including Susan Van Dyne of Smith College, Plath's alma mater.

"It's Only a Story. Your Story, My Story: The Poetic Rivalry of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes"
Keynote speaker: Susan Van Dyne
Saturday, Nov. 2, at 5 p.m.
Whittenberger Auditorium
Indiana Memorial Union
IU Bloomington

This event, which also coincides with the 40th anniversary of her most famous collection of poetry, Ariel, commemorates another side of Plath's creative abilities—her largely unknown visual art. An exhibit of her work includes a mix of pieces from childhood greeting card art to a more mature self-portrait in pastels.

"Eye Rhymes: Visual Art and Manuscripts of Sylvia Plath"
On loan from the IU Lilly Library Plath collection
SoFA Gallery
IU School of Fine Arts
Bloomington
Through Nov. 23

The broad reach of Plath's work will be demonstrated before the literary symposium actually begins.

Apprehensions
Written by Shulamit Ran for voice, clarinet and piano and other works inspired by Plath's Ariel poems
Auer Hall, IU Bloomington
Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m.

Shulamit Ran, who will appear at the performance, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer. She is the Williams H. Colvin Professor of music at the University of Chicago, and is composer-in-residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Later that evening, at 5 p.m. in Whittenberger Auditorium, Diane Middlebrook will speak.

"The Literary Romance of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes."
Speaker: Diane Middlebrook
Professor of English emerita at Stanford University
Sunday, Oct. 27, 5 p.m.
Whittenberger Auditorium, IU Bloomington

Middlebrook's new book about Hughes and Plath will be published by Viking in 2003.

According to Kathleen Connors, a graduate student in IU Bloomington's Department of English and the primary organizer of this event, the literary symposium will be the largest gathering of Plath scholars ever, with 65 participants including famous writers on Plath and new student voices from across the globe. About one quarter of the participants are from abroad, she said.

Among the topics to be discussed during the symposium is Plath's enduring following. Best known for her novel, The Bell Jar, published one month before her suicide at age 30 in 1963, and for her second book of poems, Ariel, released in 1965, Plath often has been called a genius. But scholars and others debate the reason for her popularity, which in some circles is nearly cultish. While her talent certainly is recognized, critics wonder if the drama of her life accounts for her being taken more seriously than many other poets of equal ability.

Indeed, the life and death of Plath is nothing if not compelling. During the summer following her junior year at Smith College, having returned from an internship as guest editor at Mademoiselle magazine, she suffered a nervous breakdown. She attempted suicide and wrote about the experience in The Bell Jar.

After a course of insulin therapy to make her gain weight, electroshock and psychotherapy, she recovered to graduate from Smith summa cum laude and win a Fulbright scholarship to study at Cambridge, England.

While there, she married English poet Ted Hughes in 1956. But less than two years after the birth of their first child, the marriage began to dissolve. Plath eventually found herself alone in London with two children, ill with the flu and nearly broke.

She continued to write furiously, producing the poetry that would make her famous after death, work described as a terrifying record of her encroaching mental illness.

On February 11, 1963, Plath killed herself.

"Plath is one of the most influential poets of the 20th century," said Connors. "She has been especially important to the women's movement in literature and cultural studies. She steps across many categories in her work and her public personas—'50s poster child turned rebel, taboo breaker, usurper of patriarchy, dangerous model for youth, popular icon, cult figure, literary pioneer, famous suicide, cultural critic, a pre-'70s era feminist heroine and a creative genius.

"She was a great artist of both the 'highest' literary realm—poetry—and the 'lowest'—women's magazines," Connors continued. "And she has been written about in countless essays, books and biographies. Her works are still best sellers worldwide."

According to Connors, the BBC is making a film this fall on Plath's life, with actress Gwenyth Paltrow as the poet, and actress Meg Ryan also has something in the works.