Anne Sexton Listening to Anne Sexton

Abstract

Anne Sexton Met Her Psychiatrist, Martin Orne, in 1956, After Her Second Suicide Attempt. They Started Recording Their twice- (sometimes thrice-)weekly therapy sessions in early 1961, continuing until 1964, and Orne advised Sexton to listen to these recordings and write down her responses while listening and later relistening to them. Several hundred recordings of these therapy sessions have survived and reside in the Sexton collection at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and Sexton's responses have been preserved in four handwritten and typed journals, dating from January 1961 to August 1964, held at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin. Arguably, playing the sessions back to herself shaped Sexton's memories, her evolving understanding of her past, and her sense of identity. The extant ensemble of texts, comprising the audio recordings, typed and handwritten journal entries, and poetry, illustrate how playback influenced this evolution.