Ted Hughes (1930–1998)
Author of Birthday Letters
About the Author
Ted Hughes was born on August 17, 1930 in England and attended Cambridge University, where he became interested in anthropology and folklore. These interests would have a profound effect on his poetry. In 1956, Hughes married famed poet Sylvia Plath. He taught at the University of Massachusetts at show more Amherst from 1957 until 1959, and he stopped writing altogether for several years after Plath's suicide in 1963. Hughes's poetry is highly marked by harsh and savage language and depictions, emphasizing the animal quality of life. He soon developed a creature called Crow who appeared in several volumes of poetry including A Crow Hymn and Crow Wakes. A creature of mythic proportions, Crow symbolizes the victim, the outcast, and a witness to life and destruction. Hughes's other works also created controversy because of their style, manner, and matter, but he has won numerous honors, including the Somerset Maugham Award in 1960, and the Queen's Medal for Poetry in 1974. His greatest honor came in 1984, when he was named Poet Laureate of England. Ted Hughes died in 1998. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Allen and Unwin Media Centre
Series
Works by Ted Hughes
Five American Poets — Editor — 3 copies
Der Gigant aus dem All 2 copies
Orts 2 copies
Prometheus on his crag : 21 poems 2 copies
The deadfall 1 copy
“Jellyfish” 1 copy
“Crab” 1 copy
Capriccio 1 copy
Selected poems, 1956-1975 1 copy
The best worker in Europe 1 copy
Parler en Langues 1 copy
Din cîntecele lui Kra 1 copy
Howls & Whispers 1 copy
Spring Awakening 1 copy
Gedanken-Fuchs; Gedichte. [ËUbersetzt von Egbert Faas in Zusammenarbeit mit Martin Seletzki (1971) 1 copy
Shakespeare's Ovid 1 copy
Oedipus 1 copy
The Rain Horse 1 copy
Orpheus 1 copy
Associated Works
The Oresteia: Agamemnon / The Libation Bearers / The Eumenides (0458) — Translator, some editions — 10,596 copies, 72 reviews
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,301 copies, 9 reviews
World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time (1998) — Contributor — 458 copies, 1 review
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 4th Edition, Volume 2 (1979) — Contributor — 253 copies, 1 review
Poetry Speaks Expanded: Hear Poets Read Their Own Work from Tennyson to Plath (2007) — Contributor — 153 copies, 1 review
The Sophisticated Cat: A Gathering of Stories, Poems, and Miscellaneous Writings About Cats (1992) — Contributor — 101 copies, 1 review
Buzz Words: Poems About Insects (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series) (2021) — Contributor — 39 copies
Holding your eight hands; an anthology of science fiction verse (1970) — Contributor — 23 copies, 1 review
William Golding: The Man and His Books - A Tribute on His 75th Birthday (1986) — Contributor — 16 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 12, August 1980 — Contributor — 3 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 2, October 1980 — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Hughes, Edward James
- Other names
- Hughes, Ted
- Birthdate
- 1930-08-17
- Date of death
- 1998-10-28
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- England, UK
- Birthplace
- Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, England, UK
- Place of death
- London, England, UK
- Cause of death
- myocardial infarction
- Places of residence
- Mytholmroyd, England, UK
Mexborough, England, UK
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
London, England, UK
North Tawton, England, UK - Education
- University of Cambridge (BA archaeology and anthropology, 1954)
- Occupations
- poet
children's writer - Relationships
- Plath, Sylvia (wife)
Hughes, Frieda (daughter)
Causley, Charles (friend)
Wevill, Assia (lover)
Hughes, Gerald (brother) - Awards and honors
- Order of Merit (1998)
Poet Laureate of England (1984 - 1998) - Short biography
- Notably married to Sylvia Plath (1956-1963) with whom he had two children. Also had a daughter Shura (b. 1965), killed by her mother Assia Wevill as part of her suicide in 1969. Hughes was chosen as Poet Laureate after Philip Larkin declined.
Members
Reviews
Lists
Poetry Corner (4)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 130
- Also by
- 59
- Members
- 12,609
- Popularity
- #1,855
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 165
- ISBNs
- 440
- Languages
- 18
- Favorited
- 31