The Sylvia Plath Forum was started in January 1998 by Elaine Connell author of Sylvia Plath: Killing the Angel in the House (Pennine Pens). Intrigued by the unexpected publication of Ted Hughes’ collection of poems about his first wife, "Birthday Letters" Elaine, who lives in Hebden Bridge near where Plath is buried and Ted Hughes was born, decided to launch the Forum as a place on the Internet where Plath scholars, students, teachers and people just interested in poetry and other literature could share points of view, discuss and debate about her life and work.

We did not anticipate what an extraordinary success the Forum would become not only in terms of the number of visitors - over 100,000 in the past 18 months - but also in terms of the high quality of contributions we have received from academics, students, writers and Plath fans all over the world. It has provided an excellent example of how the Internet can be used to facilitate global learning. The site is now recommended for students’ use by BBC Education Online.

We provide a general forum for the discussion and exchange of points of view about Plath, a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section where there is a large quantity of biographical material, relevant photos of Plath, her children and grave, a poem analyses page, a section of poems by other people inspired by Sylvia Plath, links to other recommended sites, an extensive bilbilography and archives of the forum which go back to its inception.

This forum is moderated - contributions which are inappropriate, anonymous or likely to offend may be edited or omitted.

We welcome any feedback or suggestions for the Forum

Note to student visitors

The forum is intended as one where discussion and exchange of points of view/information about SP's work can take place. It is not really a site which promises to do students' thinking/essays for them. Before posting to the Forum students seeking help on theses, essays, presentations and analyses of particular poems are advised to look at the extensive bibliography provided, the FAQ section and the individual poem analyses present on the site. All the books mentioned in the bibliographyare useful to Plath studies and can be easily obtained Amazon.com in the US or Amazon.co.uk in the UK, other online bookshops, libraries and (in UK) the Inter Library Loan System. Reading the Forum contributions and archives thoroughly will also give any student a good idea of what the major questions are about Plath's work. Your work should be given far higher grades if you can work out your own answers.