30 years, 3 months, and 14 days. That is how old Sylvia Plath was when she died on February 11, 1963 from committing suicide.
Forty-five years later on February 11, 2008 on the 8th floor of 1104 S. Wabash of Columbia College she is recognized for advancing the genre of confessional poetry, her book The Bell Jar, and her poetry which was published years after her death. She is remembered in Columbia's literary journal Court Green 5, which is in its fifth year, as the doisser.
Undergraduates, graduates, local authors, and a featured poet gather in the lobby outside the theater. They all have one thing in common. They are wearing red and pink in honor of Sylvia. They are the color of her favorite tulips. One of the people who came to attend is James Ewert Jr. who is a student at Columbia.
Ewert says, “I like all the red and pink. It's an odd color to wear on your death day but I guess for Sylvia, it's acceptable.”
In the theater, David Trinidad is the host for the event and a teacher at Columbia College. A poet himself, he reads from the literary journal remembering Sylvia Plath the best way he can – by reading her poetry.
Of those who gather in the lobby, twelve have come to recite their favorite piece from Court Green 5 and their favorite poem by Sylvia Plath. Besides hosting, Trinidad also read his favorite poem by Sylvia.
“I think I was just caught up in her languages; her images are beautiful, long sentences. I was thinking of the words, meaning,” say Trinidad.
Others, like Jenny Mueller, will read their own poetry. Three of her poems appear in the journal. The one of hers that she chose is titled “Lincoln County”. She reads her poem in the same sweet, shy voice that she remembers Sylvia.
“I think about high school because that's when I read them and they kind of latched onto me. I don't read them anymore because they seem like childhood stories now,” says Mueller.
At the end, the message is the same: they were all just gathered to remember the honest, confessional words of Sylvia Plath. Trinidad puts it best.
“We've come here to honor her on her death day. As people who enjoy poetry, we read to honor her language. She found a way to capture her humanness in her art. It's the emotion and the self-revelation.”
