Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath ( October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was one of the most renowned and influential poets, novelists, and short story writers of the 20th century. Born in Boston, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College at the University of Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a poet and writer. She was married to fellow poet Ted Hughes from 1956 until they separated in September 1962. They lived together in the United States and then England and had two children, Frieda and Nicholas. Plath was clinically depressed for most of her adult life. She committed suicide in 1963.

Plath is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for her two published collections,The Colossus and Other Poems, and Ariel. She also wrote The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her death. In 1982, she won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for The Collected Poems.