Sylvia Plath was a leading figure in the 'Confessional' poetry movement of the mid-20th century. This style is characterized by its intense focus on personal experience, often exploring taboo subjects such as mental illness, trauma, and domestic frustration. Her most famous collection, 'Ariel,' was published posthumously and contains some of her most visceral and powerful work, including the poems 'Daddy' and 'Lady Lazarus.' Plath’s only novel, 'The Bell Jar,' is a semi-autobiographical account of a young woman’s descent into depression. Her writing is known for its sharp, precision-engineered metaphors and its unflinching honesty. Despite her tragic death at age 30, Plath remains a cult figure in literature, and in 1982, she became the first poet to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize posthumously.