Sylvia Plath Poems To Be Read By All-female Cast At Literature Festival

35 performers to read poems from Ariel at London Literature Festival

An all-female cast will read a collection of Sylvia Plath's poems at this year's London Literature Festival.

Performers including The Hour's Anna Chancellor and Harriet Walter will each read a poem from Ariel, a posthumous collection of Plath's work.

The readings will be taken from an original manuscript, found on her desk after her death from suicide aged 30 in 1963.

James Runcie, Head of Literature and the Spoken Word at London's Southbank Centre, called the work, which includes some of Plath's most famous poems sich as 'Lady Lazarus' and 'Daddy', 'one of the greatest collections of poetry ever written.'

He added: 'This is an opportunity to hear her poems in the order she left them at her death - passionate, angry, ferociously observed and yet also hopeful, beginning with the word "love" and ending with "spring".

'I hope this will be an inspiring tribute to both her memory and her achievement.'

The performance, taking place at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday May 26, will be introduced by Plath's daughter Frieda Hughes.

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