Ariel: The Late Poems of Sylvia Plath

Jack Folsom

Tuesdays, 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
January 11 - March 1, 2005
D.O.C. House

Readers who have sought to understand and appreciate the power of Sylvia Plath's poetry have often been frustrated by its difficulty. This course is intended to provide both access and enjoyment, as well as a chance to reappraise Plath as a life-affirming rather than a morbidly suicidal writer.

Course participants will receive a fresh biographical orientation, including a chance to view and discuss the 1988 "Voices and Visions" video production. Most of the poems written during 1962 and before Plath's death in early 1963 will be studied in combination with handouts of commentaries drawn from The Sylvia Plath Forum (Internet, 1998-present) and other sources. Plath's own recorded readings will be included. Evidence from drafts in the Smith College collection will offer perspective on the composition of the poems. Readings will also include notes and other material in the reissued Collected Poems. This is not to be a lecture course. Participants are encouraged to come to each meeting prepared to discuss and question what they have read.

Class is limited to 12 members.

Jack Folsom holds degrees from Yale and UC Berkeley and has taught literature, linguistics, and creative writing at Boston University, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), and Montana State University. Having grown up at the same time as Plath in eastern Massachusetts, he has been involved in Sylvia Plath studies since the late 1960's and has written extensively in the field.