Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer whose work is closely associated with confessional poetry. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and later at the University of Cambridge. Plath published poems and stories in magazines and became known for her intense, psychologically charged voice and precise imagery. Her only novel, *The Bell Jar* (1963), draws on experiences of mental illness and was first published in the United Kingdom under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas.” After her death, her poetry collection *Ariel* (1965) helped secure her reputation as a major twentieth-century poet.