Sun, 5 Jan 2014

Sylvia Plath, The First To Win The Pulitzer Prize Posthumously


Sylvia Plath, the first to win the Pulitzer Prize posthumously, was welcomed into this world by her parents Otto and Aurelia on October 27, 1932 in Boston Massachusetts. Plath studied in Smith College and in Newnham College, Cambridge. She graduated with highest honors after being named summa cum laude.

She took English in college but it was a number of years earlier that her talent in writing was be discovered and first recognized. When she was eight years old, she had her first poem published in the children's section of the Boston Herald.


Poems By Sylvia Plath Published


Plath married Ted Hughes, a fellow poet, in 1956 and had two kids Frieda and Nicholas. Hughes is responsible for having most of Plath's poems published, specifically her work "The Collected Poems" which made Sylvia Plath, the first to win the Pulitzer Prize posthumously. It is also believed that he is mainly responsible for the poems themselves as most of them relay Plath's thoughts and emotions during their troublesome marriage.

However, her descend to depression began while she was still in college and after she was hired as guest editor of Mademoiselle Magazine. This trying time in her life is documented in her novel "The Bell Jar". It was also around this time that she first attempted to kill herself. She has also penned "Ariel" and "The Colossus and Other Poems". Aside from poetry and novels, Plath also wrote short stories. She was also a gifted artist and did some paintings.


The Pulitzer Prize


The Pulitzer Prize is an award given to an American author, journalist or composer for their achievements in their field of expertise. Winning writers are also chosen preferably for best exemplifying the American way of life in their craft. It is named after Joseph Pulitzer, a newspaper publisher who, in his will, allocated money to Columbia University in New York to start the university's Graduate School of Journalism and launch the Pulitzer Prize. There are 21 awards given for each of the 21 categories. Sylvia Plath was the first to win the Pulitzer Prize posthumously and she won in the Poetry category during the 1982 version of the event.


Mental Problems And Suicide

Sylvia Plath is recognized for evolving the genre of confessional poetry, a style that was popularized in the 50s and 60s. Confessional poetry was autobiographical in nature. They dwell in the personal life of the author and in a way were sort of confessions. Most of these poems centered on sexuality, mental problems and suicide. Among the proponents of confessional poetry, Plath best personified her craft by taking her own life.

Though it was a very unfortunate incident, her suicide cemented her status as one of the writing greats the world has ever known. Of course, much of the praise is thanks to her brilliance in writing and expressing her deepest thoughts and emotions in magical words.


Sylvia Plath Suffered From Depression

Sylvia Plath spearheads a prestigious group of talented writers who, unfortunately, didn't live long enough to see their names among the elite list of Pulitzer Prize winners. Other posthumous awardees of the Pulitzer Prize are James Agee (Fiction), Wilfred C. Barber (Correspondence), Duke Ellington (Music), George Gershwin (Special Citation), Scott Joplin (Special Citation), Jonathan Larson (Drama), Thelonious Monk (Special Citation), David M. Potter (History) and John Kennedy Toole (Fiction).

Sylvia Plath suffered from depression when she was an adult and. In 1963, she took her own life but not before creating some of the most emotional and beautiful mixture of words ever concocted.