National Sylvia Day – July 5, 2024

History of National Sylvia Day

Throughout history, numerous people named Sylvia or Silvia have left significant marks on the world. Among the well-known Sylvias are Saint Sylvia, mother to Gregory the Great and patroness of pregnant women, and Queen Silvia, Sweden’s Queen Consort. However, the most famous person to share this name is Sylvia Plath, a renowned writer and confessional poetry proponent.

Plath was an American poet, novelist, and author. She is often credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry, a style of poetry focusing on personal experience, the individual psyche, and trauma. Her most notable works include “The Colossus and Other Poems,” “Ariel,” and “The Bell Jar.” In 1950, she attended Smith College, where she excelled academically. She edited “The Smith Review” and was awarded the guest editor position at “Mademoiselle” magazine for a month in New York City. Plath made her first documented suicide attempt in 1953, and she spent the next six months in psychiatric care at McLean Hospital. She returned to college after treatment and obtained a Fullbright scholarship to the University of Cambridge’s Newham College.

Plath met Ted Hughes in February 1956, and the pair married in June of the same year. She published her first poetry collection, “The Colossus,” in 1960 and finished her semi-autobiographical novel, “The Bell Jar,” a year later. Plath tragically died by suicide in 1963.