This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission. A note: readers who are sensitive to stories about people like Sylvia Plath who suffered from mental illness and died by suicide should approach this article with caution. Sylvia Plath is one of the most celebrated voices in 20th century American literature. She published two works in her lifetime. Her debut poetry collection was 1960’s The Bell Jar, has become a staple in English literature curricula. She died by suicide in 1963 at age 30. Plath’s second volume of poetry, Ariel, published posthumously and edited by her estranged husband Ted Hughes, received wide acclaim. It continues to inspire readers for its honesty, fury, and provocative, searing language. Plath’s Collected Poems, published in 1981, won the Pulitzer Prize. Although these published works are few in number, a rich body of her writing has survived, thanks to the fastidious journals she kept throughout her life and her habit of letter writing.