In a 1959 review of Robert Lowell's Life Studies, critic M. L. Rosenthal invented the phrase "confessional poetry." Since then, the phrase has been used to the writings of various poets, most notably Lowell, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, and W. D. Snodgrass. Rosenthal's use of the word "confessional" was novel at the time but not entirely new. The term had been applied by critics before him to poems that included autobiographical elements. What made Rosenthal's use of the word significant was his further claim that these poems were produced under "the stress of psychological crisis." This argument would later become central to discussions of confessional poetry. Rosenthal's article appeared in June 1959. Six months earlier, Lowell had published his collection Life Studies, which included several poems that were explicitly described as "confessional." Thus, it can be argued that Rosenthal was simply updating existing critical terminology by applying it to a new body of work. However, it is also possible that he introduced the term "confessionalism" deliberately as a criticism of Lowell's approach to poetry. It is well known that Lowell was deeply affected by Rosenthal's review and took its comments seriously enough to respond publicly a few months later. In fact, Life Studies was a major influence on the development of modern confessional poetry, since many writers drew inspiration from its example of how autobiography could enhance creative expression.