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Sylvia Plath was an extraordinarily talented writer. She wrote with rare force and wit, hers was a singular voice. She is the author of the classic coming of age novel The Bell Jar, and one of the 20th century鈥檚 most important poetry collections, 1965鈥檚 Ariel. But her words have been overshadowed by the details of her biography; her marriage to fellow poet Ted Hughes, its dissolution, and her death by suicide in 1963.

In this new three part series, the focus is firmly on Sylvia Plath鈥檚 writing as Mariella Frostrup aims to paint a more nuanced picture of Plath as a poet and novelist, cutting through the noise to see her more clearly and putting her life in the context of her work, rather than the other way around.

In this first episode we look at her Childhood, Young Womanhood and Motherhood. As a child, Sylvia Plath already knew that poetry was to be her calling. Her happy childhood was shattered by the how the death of her father Otto when she was eight years old. Her father would go on to inspire her bee poems, as well as her famous poem Daddy.

We find out how Plath鈥檚 coming of age experiences informed her only novel, The Bell Jar, inspired by her time working for a magazine in New York and her subsequent breakdown. We also hear from some of the young women for whom it is a touchstone.

And we meet Sylvia Plath the mother. Her poems about motherhood show a tender side of her that is often overlooked, and she wrote groundbreaking poems about childbirth and miscarriage such as Three Women and Parliament Hill Fields.

Contributors include Siri Hustvedt, Katherine Rundell, Fiona Benson, Sean Borodale, Toria Garbutt, Heather Clark and Peter K Steinberg.
Readings by Lydia Wilson
Presenter Mariella Frostrup
Producer: Jessica Treen