An IUPUC English professor has written the first book to explore the role of Assia Wevill, a refugee who escaped Nazi Germany, in the lives and literary history of famous poets Ted Hughes and his first wife, Sylvia Plath.
Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick’s book, “Reclaiming Assia Wevill: Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, and the Literary Imagination,” focuses on several areas of the Plath-Hughes-Wevill mythology, including how Wevill figures into the poems of both Hughes and Plath, her role as a writer and artist and the portrayal of Wevill in recent work of literature, television and film.
The English professor specializes in 20th-century American literature, transatlantic modernism, women and literature, women’s studies and trauma studies.
In her book, Goodspeed-Chadwick looks beyond the femme fatale stereotype that has been associated with Wevill to examine her tragic life and the lasting impact her life presents with regard to femininity and the power dynamics in heterosexual relationships.
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“Assia Wevill is a critically important figure in the life and work of Pulitzer Prize-winning Sylvia Plath and the British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, two of the most famous poets in 20th-century transatlantic literature,” Goodspeed-Chadwick said.
“Historically and culturally, Assia has either been erased from the literacy record or maligned as a result of sexist forces, as I argue in ‘Reclaiming Assia Wevill.’ Now, as a result of extensive archival work and literary study, it is possible to recalibrate the literary record in order to make it more diverse, equitable and inclusive.”
Goodspeed-Chadwick was named a Bicentennial Professor by Indiana University earlier this year, and has received numerous awards throughout her career. Most recently, Goodspeed-Chadwick was the recipient of the Glenn W. Irwin, Jr., M.D. Experience Excellence Award from IUPUI, the Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Award in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity from IUPUC and the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award from IUPUC.
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"Reclaiming Assia Wevill: Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, and the Literary Imagination" by Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick is available on Amazon for $34.76. The book is also available for Kindle for $42.75.
This is Goodspeed-Chadwick’s second book to be published by Louisiana State University Press. Her first book, "Modernist Women Writers and War: Trauma and the Female Body in Djuna Barnes, H.D., and Gertrude Stein," was published in 2011.
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Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick is an English professor at IUPUC in Columbus. She is also affiliate faculty in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, and director of the Office of Student Research.
Indiana University recently named Goodspeed-Chadwick a Bicentennial Professor. Her specializations include twentieth-century American literature, transatlantic modernism, women and literature, women’s studies and trauma studies.
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