Pulitzer Prize finalist accolade for Professor Heather Clark

“A profoundly researched and illuminating portrait of the influential poet whose life and art mirrored the intellectual, political and sexual awakenings of the era.” 

The prestigious Pulitzer Prizes have been honoring excellence in journalism and the arts since 1917 and among this year’s three finalists in the Biography category is Professor Heather Clark, recognised for her Sylvia Plath biography ‘Red Comet’. 

"I’m thrilled to be a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and so pleased that this public recognition has shown a contemporary spotlight on Sylvia Plath’s art," commented Professor Clark. 

Critical acclaim greeted this major biography of the poet and novelist Sylvia Plath, written by the American scholar Heather Clark, who is Professor of Contemporary Poetry at the University of Huddersfield. The book won the Biographers’ Club Slightly Foxed Prize for Best First Biography, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the LA Times Book Prize. It was a ‘Book of the Year’ in several major publications, including the Guardian and the Times.

Fellow author of ‘Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life,’ Ruth Franklin, commented, “Finally, the biography that Sylvia Plath deserves, one that takes her seriously as both a poet and a person. Combining rigorous research with in-depth literary analysis and immersive style, Heather Clark’s magisterial book not only traces Plath’s influences and inspirations, but also chronicles her often-tumultuous relationships with respect and empathy. A spectacular achievement.”

Red Comet

Titled Red Comet: The Short and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, the 1,152-page book has been hailed as the definitive account of the life and work of the Boston-born writer who in 1956 married the English poet Ted Hughes. She suffered from depressive illness and in 1963, after the marriage had broken down, Plath committed suicide while living in London.

The tragedy of her end and controversy over her relationship with Yorkshire-born Hughes – who later became Poet Laureate – has often overshadowed Sylvia Plath’s literary career and accomplishments. Professor Clark has set out to redress the balance.

“I embarked on this book because I thought she had been overly pathologised in biographies, memoirs, TV dramas and so on. Too much attention has been paid to her suicide rather than her writing and literary career. I think she is one of the most important poets of the 20th century.

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“Yes, depression is part of the story,” continued Professor Clark, “but I tried to refocus attention on her ambition and her drive and the boundaries that she broke. She was a really inspiring figure for her use of language and surrealism and the way she introduced fear and anger into the poetic lexicon.”

The University of Huddersfield is home to the Ted Hughes Network and therefore a major centre for the study of the ex-Laureate – born in nearby Mytholmroyd – and of his wife. Professor Clark is supervisor to several PhD students who are focussing on Sylvia Plath, and Director of the University’s new Centre for International Contemporary Poetry, which will launch in 2022.