Papers of Ted Hughes

The letter is written to the Chancellor of the University by Ted Hughes and encloses a typescript of the piece of verse read by Ted Hughes in the Great Hall, entitled 'Remembering the Teheran', drawn from the poet's experiences of living in Persia in 1971. The letter explains the imagery and themes used in the poem.

Ted Hughes (1930-1998), poet laureate, was born at Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, in 1930, the son of William Henry Hughes and Edith Farrar Hughes. He was educated at Mexborough Grammar School, having moved there in 1937, when his father opened a newsagents. In 1948 he won a scholarship to Cambridge, and read English at Pembroke College before changing to Archaeology and Anthropology, graduating in 1954. At Cambridge he met Sylvia Plath (d1963), whom he married in 1956. The year after his marriage his first book of poetry, The Hawk in the Rain, was published by Faber and Faber to widespread acclaim. A number of increasingly diverse publications followed, including childrens' stories and poetry, librettos and poetry. After a short period in London and the USA he moved to Devon in 1961. In 1970 he married his second wife, Carol Orchard, who survived him. He became Poet Laureate in 1984, and received the Order of Merit just before his death. He died in London in October 1998. By his first wife he had one son and one daughter.

Usual EUL arrangements apply.

Listed by Charlotte Berry, Archivist, 10 October 2003 and encoded into EAD 28 May 2004. Biographical details compiled by Ian Mortimer.

Currently unlisted.

Usual EUL restrictions apply.

Given to the Chancellor of the University following a reading of Hughes' work in the Great Hall, 1982.

Two other collections relating to Hughes are held by the University of Exeter: EUL MS 58 and EUL MS 192. Other papers relating to Ted Hughes are held at the following repositories: University of Birmingham (Sceptre Press Archive); Emory University, USA (Robert W. Woodruff Library).

Not known.