Jessica Zhan Mei Yu’s witty, ‘effervescent’ debut novel follows a Sylvia-Plath-loving young Malaysian-Australian writer’s journey to ‘the heart of empire’ in the UK.
Winona Ryder played Susannah Kaysen in the film of Kaysen’s memoir, Girl, Interrupted.
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Why was Susanna Kaysen really hospitalised? Her memoir Girl, Interrupted turns 30 this year. It investigates whether she was ‘mad’, or medicalised for a ‘chaotic’ life that defied gender norms.
Sylvia Plath photographed a month before her death.
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Sylvia Plath left behind a complicated legacy. Contemporary writers influenced by her work must juggle inspiration with some problematic imagery – as a poetry expert explains.
Dostoyevsky’s story ‘The Double’ explores the uncanny theme of a replica of oneself, but today’s literary foes are often amorphous ones like environmental degradation.
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Beyond the ‘literature of madness,’ the narratives about mental and physical health published today explore the interdependence of bodies and their environments.