"Sylvia Plath is one of the most widely recognized and inspiring poets of the 20th century. With chapters written by more than 25 leading and emerging international scholars this is the most up-to-date and in-depth reference guide to 21st century scholarship on her life and work. The Bloomsbury Handbook to Sylvia Plath covers the full range of contemporary scholarship on Plath's work, including such topics as: ̈New insights from the publication of Plath's letters; ̈Current scholarly perspectives: feminist and gender studies, race, medical humanities and ecocriticism; ̈Plath's poetry, the major novel, The Bell Jar , and Plath's writing for children; ̈Plath's literary contexts, from Ovid and Robert Lowell to Ted Hughes, Doris Lessing and Stevie Smith; ̈Plath's broadcasting work for the BBC. The book also includes a substantial annotated bibliography of key primary and secondary writing by and on the author." --