Cyrilly Abels Explained

Cyrilly Abels (October 12, 1904 – November 8, 1975) was an American editor and literary agent.

Biography

Abels graduated from Radcliffe College in 1926.^[1] In the 1930s, she was the executive secretary of the League of American Writers.^[2] She served as the managing editor of Mademoiselle magazine between 1945 and 1960.^[3] Under her leadership, the magazine's focus shifted from fashion to literature, publishing stories by Truman Capote, Dylan Thomas, and Carson McCullers.^[4]

Abels was a close friend of Katherine Anne Porter.^[5] In addition to Porter, Abels served as the literary agent for Christina Stead, Francis Steegmuller, Zelda Popkin, and Robert Scheer, among others.^[6]

Legacy

Abels served as Sylvia Plath's model for the editor Jay Cee in The Bell Jar.^[7] Her papers, including her correspondence with Porter, are held at the University of Maryland.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Book: Bingham, Sallie . The Blue Box: Three Lives in Letters . 2014 . Sarabande Books . 9781936747870.
2. Book: Stout, Janis P. . Katherine Anne Porter: A Sense of the Times . University of Virginia Press . 1995 . 142.
3. Book: Selected Letters of Katherine Anne Porter: Chronicles of a Modern Woman . University Press of Mississippi . 2012 . 9781617036200 . Unrue . Darlene Harbour . 360.
4. Book: Adams, Alice . The Stories of Alice Adams . Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group . 2011 . 9780307798145 . New York . i.
5. Book: Givner, Joan . Katherine Anne Porter : A Life . Simon and Schuster . 0671432079 . New York . 1982 . 411.
6. News: November 9, 1975 . Cyrilly Abels, Authors' Agent . January 16, 2024 . The New York Times . 71.
7. Book: Wilson, Andrew . Mad girl's love song : Sylvia Plath and life before Ted . Scribner . 9781476710310 . New York . 2013 . 201.
8. Cyrilly Abels papers, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries. Accessed January 16, 2024.