Ted Hughes biography

Ted Hughes was born in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire on 17th August 1930

His first book, The Hawk in the Rain, was published by Faber in 1957, and was followed by many volumes of poetry and prose for both children and adults.

Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath from 1956 until 1963 when Plath committed suicide.

He was the Poet Laureate from 1984 and was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1998, the year in which he died.

"Reckoned one of the greatest of modern fairy tales." Observer

"Starts superbly with a clanking iron giant toppling from a cliff and lying smashed on the rocks below. Then his various parts get up and search for each other. Hughes has never written more compellingly." The Times