Sylvia Plath, one of the best-known names in American women's literature, signed her first and her last books with pseudonyms. A poet since childhood, she published her debut volume "A Winter Ship" relatively late, in 1960. After studying at Smith College and later at Newnham College in Cambridge (a

Confessional poetry, Death, Feminine, Grotesque, Melancholy, Primal, Voluminous, Women's literature

PennSound offers the kind of luxury that, soon upon its discovery, feels indispensable. It is a mammoth source of audio recordings – readings, interviews, sound art – both new and preserved, headed by the eminent Charles Bernstein and Al Filreis. The site is inclusive despite its natural tenden

Absurd, Expansive, Experimental, Grand, Huge, Pioneering, Sophisticated, Voluminous

writer, director, musician, artist.

Catastrophe, Complex, Dark, Deconstructive, Experimental, Political, Primal, Profane

Oscar Wilde pursued a life -- an art -- of pure uselessness. This was not because he objected to pragmatic pursuits, if kept in their proper place: "We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it inten

Aestheticist fiction, Clever, Mythic, Perverse, Surreal, Witty