Ted Hughes
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Ted Hughes OM OBE FRSL |
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Hughes in later life
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| Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom | |
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In office 28 December 1984 – 28 October 1998 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | John Betjeman |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Motion |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Edward James Hughes 17 August 1930 Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 28 October 1998 (aged 68) London, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Domestic partner | Assia Wevill (1962–1969) |
| Children |
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| Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Poet, playwright, writer |
Edward James "Ted" Hughes OM (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation, and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He served as Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.
Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath from 1956 until her suicide in 1963 at the age of 30. His part in the relationship became controversial to some feminists and some American admirers of Plath. His last poetic work, Birthday Letters (1998), explored their complex relationship. These poems make reference to Plath's suicide, but none addresses directly the circumstances of her death. A poem discovered in October 2010, Last letter, describes what happened during the three days before her death.
In 2008 The Times ranked Hughes fourth on their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Hughes was born at 1 Aspinall Street, in Mytholmroyd in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to William Henry and Edith (née Farrar) Hughes, and raised among the local farms of the Calder Valley and on the Pennine moorland. Hughes's sister Olwyn was two years older and his brother Gerald was ten years older. His mother could trace her ancestry back to William de Ferrières, who came to England with William the Conqueror in the 11th century. One of her ancestors had founded the religious community of Little Gidding in Cambridgeshire. Most of the more recent generations of his family had worked in the clothing and milling industries in the area. Hughes's father, William, a joiner, was of Irish descent and had enlisted with the Lancashire Fusiliers and fought at Ypres. He narrowly escaped being killed when a bullet lodged in a pay book in his breast pocket. He was one of just 17 men of his regiment to return from the Dardanelles Campaign (1915–16). The stories of Flanders fields filled Hughes's childhood imagination (later described in the poem "Out"). Hughes noted, "my first six years shaped everything."
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