Plath's influence showcased

Most know Sylvia Plath as the brilliant poet who committed suicide in her prime, at the age of 30. This Sunday, Plath scholars as well as simply curious minds will find out more about her during the Sylvia Plath 70th Year Commemoration concert at 2 p.m. in Auer Hall. \nThe commemoration is the second of the 3-part series dedicated to Sylvia Plath's 70th birthday. The current exhibit of Plath artwork "Eye Rhymes" at the School of Fine Arts and the Plath literary symposium are also parts of this series. \n"Plath has inspired so many. She is a cultural icon -- a popular figure," said Kathleen Connors, graduate student and Plath scholar who helped organize the concert and created the exhibit and the symposium. "This is probably one of the biggest interdisciplinary events IU has ever launched."\nThe concert was a joint venture by Connors and professors of music Marianne Kielian-Gilbert and David Dzubay. Kielian-Gilbert originally worked with two students who were influenced by Plath. \n"We approached Kathleen whether she wanted to include these pieces into a small session for the literary symposium later this month," Kielian-Gilbert said. "From a small session, this blossomed into a full-fledged concert."\nThe concert is a medley of Plath's poetry and music inspired by it. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Shulamit Ran will headline a guest/student recital of music based on Plath's Ariel poems. Ariel, a collection of poems published posthumously has become one of the best-selling and most widely discussed volumes of 20th Century poetry. \n"Ariel was her final collection of poetry," Connors said. "Even her most severe critics had to admit that it was the work of a genius."\nPresently, Ran is the William H. Colvin Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Chicago where she has taught since 1973. Her piece Apprehensions (1979) will be performed by IU musicians and guest soprano Ellen Ritchey. The commemoration also features guest soprano Joan Metelli, associate professor and chair of vocal performance at IU South Bend. \nOne of the other highlights of the Plath celebration is the premiere of IU graduate student Chantal Carleton's "Songs for Four Soloists" based entirely on Plath's poetry and written this year. \n"I hope that those who attend this concert will see Plath's influence on other art forms," Carleton said. "This will help create Plath as a fuller, multi-dimensional artist, instead of seeing her as an one-dimensional tragedy."\nCatherine Bowman will present "Sylvia's Tarot," a new poem commissioned specifically for the event.\nAfter the concert, Diane Middlebrook will give the keynote address entitled "The Literary Romance of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes" -- an excerpt from her forthcoming book "Plath and Hughes" to be published in 2003. The address will take place at 5 p.m. in the Fine Arts Auditorium. Middlebrook is currently Professor of English Emerita at Stanford University.\n"This series is an occasion to come together, reflect on Plath's achievement, historical importance of her as a writer, who emerges from post-war America in the 1950s," Middlebrook said.\nMiddlebrook's talk will be open to the general public and will center on three Plath issues. She will give homage to Plath on her birthday for her achievement as an artist. She will also talk about Plath's marriage and her death.\n"We hope that this series will provide a way to understand and dialogue with scholars who have other perspectives (on Plath)," Kielian-Gilbert said.\nEye Rhymes, an exhibit of Plath artwork, coincides with the commemoration concert. Organized chronologically to follow the artistic development of Sylvia Plath, the "Eye Rhymes" exhibition begins with works she created while she was a young child, and concludes with late illustrated manuscripts and poetry drafts of Ariel poems that contributed to her fame. Manuscripts exhibited include illustrated newspaper articles, letters, school papers, postcards, unpublished fiction and poetry, diary and journal entries and "art poems" based on paintings and etchings of modernists. \nA week after the concert, the third event of the Plath series will take place. The literary symposium focused on Sylvia Plath will be held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3. \nThe symposium will attract Plath scholars from all over the world to Bloomington. \nConnors said 90 percent of the most important Plath scholars of the world will be at IU to celebrate Plath and to learn more about others' Plath-focused work. \n"This is the largest Plath gathering ever," Connors said. \nAlong with meetings, panels and speakers restricted to the registered participants of the conference, one keynote and three featured speakers as well as a literary panel will be open to the public.\n"We are focusing on undergraduates," Connors said. "We want to get people exposed to literary criticism of a major figure early on."\nAll three events celebrate Plath's importance as one of the greatest women poets of the 20th century. Here, her life is presented as that of an artist, not in light of her personal life and her suicide.\nFor more information about Plath commemoration events, please go to www.indiana.edu/~plath70. Eye Rhymes runs through Nov. 23 with a curator tour on Sat, Oct. 26, at 2 p.m. and Thu, Oct. 31 at 4 p.m.