As I mentioned in my last post, I gave a talk last week at the Ted Hughes festival run by the Elmet Trust. I am pleased to say that the talk seemed to go well and I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet a range of different people including Hughes' childhood friend, Donald Crossley, academics and others interested in Hughes. It certainly highlighted to me the level of interest that there is in Hughes' life and work as well as the archive here at the British Library.
I was particularly pleased to be able to give the talk in Mytholmroyd, the small town in the Calder Valley where Hughes was born on 17th August 1930. I visited Mytholmroyd and Heptonstall over the summer, but it was interesting to return to the area again as I think that there is a clear connection between the landscape and aspects of Hughes' work. As I mentioned previously the archive includes autobiographical material, which provides an interesting insight into Hughes' childhood and the influences that shaped his life and work. In one document, which appears to be the transcript of an interview, Hughes explained how his interest in and connection with the natural world and animals had been there all his life although it was something that 'my poetry eavesdropped on only at a later date'. I am sure that such insights will be very useful for researchers hoping to better understand Hughes' well documented relationship with the natural world.
Now I had better return to my proof-reading as there is still plenty of material to work through...
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