With the advent of 16mm equipment came the birth of film as personal artistic expression, and Maya Deren led the revolution. The woman who was "her own avant-garde movement," had what can only be described as an eclectic set of interests. She immersed herself in political science, journalism, English

Avant-garde film, Death, Feminine, Feminist, Primal, Spare, Surreal

Charles Mingus was one of the most distinguished and colorful personalities in jazz. He is a virtuoso of the bass who is credited with expanding the instrument's melodic function. When New Orleans jazz moved indoors, the bass replaced the tuba and helped hold down the rhythm of a musical piece. In a

Free/avant-garde, Hard bop/post-bop, Improvised, Moody, Primal, Sublime

Truly the father of Chicago blues, Muddy brought his Mississippi sound up from the Delta, combined it with the electric guitar, and redefined the genre. Waters taught himself how to play the blues by listening to Robert Johnson records. Eventually, he left Mississippi to play and sing in the Silas Gr

Gritty, Primal, Visceral

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