Plath’s work to be honored at symposium later this week

When Sylvia Plath was 12 years old, she had a crush on a boy named William Moore.

Such a random, intimate fact about Plath’s childhood is recorded in one of her many diaries. Before she wrote “The Bell Jar” and her published collections of poetry, she wrote lists of the boys she liked.

The Lilly Library boasts one of the largest collections of Plath’s original workwhich is why IU is organizing the Sylvia Plath Symposium.

It will be a four-day program from Oct. 24-27 commemorating the 50th anniversary of Plath’s “Ariel” collection and celebrating Oct. 27, which would have been her 80th birthday, symposium co-director Christoph Irmscher said.

 Plath scholars and panelists are coming from all over the world — including the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Oman, Australia, Turkey, South Africa and more — to discuss Plath’s work and influences and to celebrate her as a poet.

There will be literary panels and discussions throughout the week, as well as Plath exhibits at the IU Art Museum and the Lilly Library.

Friday will feature a film gala at the IU Cinema, including the world premiere of an original music composition of Plath’s poem “Morning Song.” Local Bloomington composer Lauren Bernofsky arranged the three part piece, which incorporates violin, cello and vocals.

Irmscher is an English professor at IU and teaches Plath’s work in his classes. He has taken students to the Lilly Library to hold what Plath has written in their hands.

The library has drafts of Plath’s manuscripts both handwritten and typewritten, as well as her journals from when she was younger. The folder containing her working manuscript of “The Colossus and Other Poems” also contained a rejection letter from the Yale University Press.

Irmscher said he recommends students attend the poetry readings at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Monroe County Public Library.

“(Plath’s poems) are never boring,” Irmscher said. “They are very intense, and people respond to that.”

He said what he likes about looking at Plath’s process overall is the contrast between the finished product and what goes into it.

“The poems become more than letters on a page,” he said. “They come alive.”

Kathleen Connors, a Plath scholar and one of the symposium co-directors, decided to plan her first Plath symposium after seeing the collection in the Lilly Library. This is her third and final symposium.

“I’ve worked on the Plath project for 20 years and I’ve enjoyed every minutes of it, but three is enough,” she said.

 Rather than Plath’s personal work, Connors said she was more interested in Plath’s creative development from an early age.

“It gives a clear indication of how she became who she was ... the juvenilia, the artwork,” Connors said. “The archival materials can inform scholars about her entire creative process and put it in a cultural context.”