“Set in the frozen wasteland of Midwestern academia, The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath introduces Wilson A. Lavender, father of three, instructor of women’s studies, and self-proclaimed genius who is beginning to think he knows nothing about women. He spends much of his time in his office not working on his dissertation, a creative piece titled “The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath.” A sober alcoholic, he also spends much of his time not drinking, until he hooks up with his office mate, Alice Cherry, an undercover stripper who introduces him to “the buffer”—the chemical solution to his woes.”
Read more about The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath at the Northern Illinois University Press.
More about Kimberly Knutsen
1. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
I was working as a dancer, had just auditioned for the big Siegfried and Roy show in Las Vegas, made it to the final thirteen, and then—I WAS CUT! Heartbreak, hives, hibernation, and once recovered, I decided to focus on my classes at UNLV, particularly my writing classes. I was done with dancing professionally, and got a tattoo to “show the world” I was now a brain and not just a body. Although, I have to add, I respect the dance world immensely. It taught me discipline, athleticism, and I was able to travel and see the world. Plus, there’s nothing more joyful than dancing. I do it every night in my kitchen!
2. How did you end up in WMU's PhD program?
After graduating from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, I decided I loved school so much I’d keep going. I wanted to do my PhD in the Midwest, which was familiar—I knew to keep cat litter in the trunk of my car for big snowstorms, and I’d stopped panicking every time my nostrils froze shut—and I got into WMU. It came down to Michigan or Mississippi, and I’d never been to the south, nor did I want to go, so I chose Kalamazoo. I was excited to work with Stuart Dybek and Jaimy Gordon.
3. After you graduated from WMU, did you go right to Concordia University?
Yes. I was lucky to find a job “right out of the chute” of grad school. I did teach a bit at Kalamazoo Valley Community College first, which I enjoyed. My aunt taught at Concordia University in Portland, so she gave the dean my name when a job opened up. I’d grown up in Portland, and my mom was angling to get her grandkids back on the West Coast, so she pushed me to apply. I thought it would be a “practice” interview, but I actually got the job, and it worked out for everyone.
4. Where did you get the idea for "The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath"?
When attending WMU, I became obsessed with Plath and read everything she’d written. I was struck by the different facets of her personality: the “good girl’ in Letters Home; the catty and driven coed in the journals; Esther, so angry and sick in The Bell Jar; the cool primeval persona in the Ariel poems. I was writing my dissertation, which was an earlier version of The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath, and realized my characters also had fractured psyches, due to trauma and addiction.
I’ve always felt for Plath, for she was so traumatized at such a young age by her father’s death. Add mental illness to the mix, and it’s heartbreaking. She had no strong women modeling who she wanted to be: a major, respected poet and a mother. Ironically, she became this role model for generations of women to come, myself included. On a personal level, I connected with her ability to break, and break again, then pick up the pieces and keep going. Until she didn’t.
5. How long did it take to get it "right"?
I wrote a terrible first draft: I sat at the computer and pounded out ten pages a day, usually while nursing a baby or feeling ill from morning sickness. When my ten pages were done, I’d go on with my day. There were so many strange moments: January worked in a bakery and loved its yeasty, green atmosphere. There was more about Anthony, the father of Katie’s first child, including a scene in which he’s a child spinning naked on a tire swing in his garage, his beloved dog nipping at his bottom. I guess I should have left those in!
After the first draft, I went through the book again and just—there’s no way to say it without sounding pompous—existed deeply within each moment. This took about four years and brought the book to its full shape. After rejections from the big publishing houses (and encouraging letters from editors), I tweaked a few of the experimental aspects and sent it to smaller presses, where it was accepted by Switchgrass Books. I couldn’t have found a better home. University presses are where it’s at! They dedicate so much time and attention to your baby book. It’s like when my anxious and shy son found his tribe at a lovely little charter school. Heartwarming.
6. Do you have other publications?
My novella “My Blue World,” which takes place in Western Michigan, is available on Novella T. I have a poem on Hoot, and I’ve published stories in Cimarron Review and Hawai’i Review—but this was long before the internet, and my aunt just told me at our annual Christmas party that she “didn’t like those stories about dirt and New Mexico” (!) But rest assured, readers: Auntie Paula LOVED The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath!
7. Is there anything else you'd like to add, share, or say?
I’m so grateful for my education at WMU, and I’d like to encourage Western’s writers to never give up. If I can publish a book, so can you. If you feel you’re truly meant to be a writer, back it up with the hard work, discipline, belief in yourself and your talents, and crazy obsessive pursuit of art for art’s sake, and your work will eventually find its place in the world. Your star—which is unlike anyone else’s—will shine in the literary galaxy, right there next to the big ones like Sylvia Plath’s, and the faint, twinkly ones like mine. Writing is a noble pursuit. It has the power to change the world.
Photo courtesy of Tara Chatterton Photography.