Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

"An Introduction to Confessional Poetry"

The Poetry Foundation’s article gives a short recap of the confessional poetry movement, touching on key poets like W. D. Snodgrass, Robert Lowell, and Sylvia Plath, as well as Sexton. It also discusses some of the controversies associated with the label.

"Anne Sexton’s 1967 Letter" (1967)

This 1967 letter and accompanying article on the Academy of American Poets website offers a glimpse into Sexton’s writing and public reading process, as well as her feelings about her recent Pulitzer Prize.

"A Tortured Inheritance" by Linda Gray Sexton (2009)

In a 2009 op-ed in The New York Times, Sexton’s daughter, Linda Gray Sexton, responds to the recent suicide of Sylvia Plath’s son. She discusses her own experiences with suicide attempts and the difficulty of living as the child of a mother who died by suicide. She writes: “My mother always said, ‘Tell it true,’ and I believe she thought, as I do, that it is important to share the experience of depression with others, who may be suffering in the same way” (Sexton, Linda Gray. “A Tortured Inheritance.” The New York Times).

"On the Friendship and Rivalry of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton" by Gail Crowther (2021)

Crowther’s article on two key women of the confessional movement explores two “hugely ambitious women in a cultural moment that did not know how to deal with ambitious women” (Crowther, Gail. “On the Friendship and Rivalry of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton.” Literary Hub).