Sylvia Plath 75th Year Symposium Comes to Smith

Sylvia Plath is one of the most prominent and admired Smith alumnae. Like many other Smith students, Aubrey Menard '08 is well-acquainted with Plath's work. She recalled her first encounter with Plath's literature in her sophomore year of high school, when her English teacher played a recording of Plath reading "Daddy." "At first, I giggled about her voice and recitation style," said Menard, "but as I listened, I was chilled by the power and momentum of the poem." Though Menard says she had never been interested in poetry before, she found Plath's work to be "something different - more alive and immediate than anything I had read previously." Thanks to Menard, this weekend Smith students will get a chance to take a closer look at the work of Plath, as well as the life she led. They will be joined by Plath fans from around the world for the Sylvia Plath 75th Year Symposium at Smith College.

Menard's symposium began as a special studies with Karen Kukil, the associate curator of special collections, and Cornelia Pearsall, an associate professor in the English language and literature department. "It was originally just going to be a paper," says Menard, "but it evolved into much more." Menard was given the opportunity to present her paper on Plath at the 75th Anniversary Sylvia Plath Symposium at the University of Oxford, at which Kukil and Pearsall also presented papers.

"It struck me that there were so many people from New England at the conference," said Kukil. Menard agreed, adding that "there were so many talks going on that we didn't get to all see each other's papers." Kukil then suggested to Menard that she organize a Plath symposium as an extension of her special studies.

"I know that a lot of students here are big Plath fans," said Menard, "but there's not a ton of opportunity to just study Plath, even casually. This symposium is a great chance for students to learn more about her work and her life." The conference will feature world-renowned Plath scholars, such as Lynda Bundtzen, an English professor at Williams College and the author of "The Other Ariel," Peter Steinberg, the author of "Sylvia Plath" and the Web master of two Plath-related Web sites, as well as Smith's own Cornelia Pearsall and Susan Van Dyne, a professor of the study of women and gender and the author of "Revising Life: Sylvia Plath's 'Ariel' Poems."

"I think one of the highlights will be the community reading of the 'Ariel' poems on Friday night," said Menard. "Plath meant [for] these poems to be read aloud when she wrote them and it's just a completely different experience to hear them read aloud." The reading will be held in the Mortimer Rare Book Room at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 25. Anyone is welcome to sign up to read a poem when they arrive.

Another definite highlight will the be the evening panel on Saturday, April 26, which will feature four panelists who knew and corresponded with Plath, including Marcia Brown Stern '54, Plath's first-year roommate at Smith; Elinor Friedman Klein '56, a friend of Plath's during her time at Smith; Judith Kroll '64, an acquaintance of Aurelia Plath, Sylvia's mother; and Philip McCurdy, a former boyfriend of Plath's. "They will be reading from letters that Plath sent them and commenting on their significance as well as taking questions. It's a very unique opportunity to have direct access to people who knew Plath," said Kukil.

Kukil and Menard are anticipating a big turnout for the event. "I know there is at least one person coming from Japan, as well as Plath enthusiasts from across the country," said Kukil. Menard agrees: "Someone might even be coming from Syria."

There will also be an opportunity for student Plath enthusiasts to display their work and meet other Plath scholars. Carly Maberry '08 has organized a table in Wright Hall for all students currently working on projects about Plath to display their projects and discuss their work. Interested parties can e-mail Maberry at cmaberry@smith.edu for more information.

The Sylvia Plath 75th Year Symposium will be held in Weinstein Auditorium in Wright Hall on April 25 and 26. A full schedule of events and more information is available at http://www.smith.edu/libraries/fyi/plathconference.htm.