Maggie Nelson’s recent book, The Slicks: On Sylvia Plath and Taylor Swift, argues for a surprising kinship between the American poet who died in 1963 and the contemporary pop superstar. Published in late 2025, the book has already sparked debate, with some critics questioning Nelson’s central thesis.
Nelson, author of the acclaimed memoir The Argonauts, first began to formulate the connection between Plath and Swift after listening to Swift’s 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department. She noted the album’s frequent literary allusions, specifically to poets like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dylan Thomas, and Shakespeare, as well as a resonance with Plath’s own introspective and emotionally turbulent operate. A conversation with a 13-year-ancient acquaintance further solidified the idea, Nelson recounted in an interview with The Guardian, when the young girl casually asked if she had ever heard of Sylvia Plath.
However, the core of Nelson’s argument, as detailed in reviews published by The Independent and Slate, extends beyond shared literary references. She posits that both artists have been subjected to societal criticism for their ambition and prolific output, particularly as women. Nelson frames this as a patriarchal tendency to “disparage, trivialise and demonise” women who produce intimate and extensive work. The book’s title itself, “The Slicks,” comes from a line in Plath’s diary expressing her desire to break into the world of glossy magazines – a desire, Nelson argues, that speaks to a longing for recognition and success.
Nelson’s analysis, as reported by Dazed Digital, centers on the question of whether a woman is permitted to “want” – to desire success, acclaim, and power – without facing backlash. She revisits Plath’s poem “The girl who wanted to be god,” contextualizing it within a diary entry where Plath expresses fears about aging, marriage, and domesticity, alongside a yearning for freedom and omnipotence. Nelson suggests that a woman’s ambition, when openly displayed, can be perceived as a transgression against societal expectations.
The book also touches upon the political landscape of the 2024 U.S. Elections, drawing a parallel between the scrutiny faced by Plath and Swift and the challenges faced by Kamala Harris. Nelson reportedly questions why Harris rarely explicitly stated her ambition for the presidency, suggesting that a woman’s open pursuit of power may be met with resistance. This connection, as noted in The Guardian, raises the broader question of whether a woman can truly attain the highest office in the United States, given a potential underlying misogyny within the electorate.
Critics, however, remain unconvinced by Nelson’s comparison. A review in Slate suggests that Nelson’s work feels dated, reminiscent of a critical climate from 2015, when the intersection of personal experience and political commentary was a dominant trend in literary nonfiction. The reviewer argues that Nelson’s attempt to flatten the distinction between “high” and “low” culture – poetry and pop music – feels less compelling in the current cultural moment.
The Slicks was published by Fern Press and initially discussed in the February 19th edition of a book newsletter, according to reporting in Livres. As of this date, the book has not been translated into French.
