Legacy of Ted Hughes lives on

The University of Huddersfield is helping to ensure that the legacy of Ted Hughes, one of Britain’s greatest poets, lives on to inspire new generations.

The Ted Hughes Network has been established by Dr Steve Ely, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, and Dr James Underwood, Research Fellow in Modern and Contemporary Literature. Their goal is that the Network is not just a research centre, but a centre of excellence for Hughes-related research, teaching, creativity and public engagement.

And the Network is taking full advantage of the University’s location, right in the heart of the area that inspired so much of the former Poet Laureate’s work. Hughes was born in Mytholmroyd, 13 miles from the University, but moved to Mexborough in South Yorkshire aged eight. The rugged landscape around both places informed much of Hughes’ work, which often put the natural world at its heart. Twenty years after his death, Hughes is widely studied in schools and his reputation continues to grow.

The Network’s remit is an ambitious one. According to Dr Ely they aim to put together “…the most comprehensive collection of Hughes’ limited editions and small press work that is publicly available.” With around 80 items now stored in the University’s archive at Heritage Quay, Dr Ely believes the Network has achieved that – but there is much more to what it does.

“As far as my writing is concerned, maybe the crucial thing is that I spent my first years in a valley in West Yorkshire" - Ted Hughes

Key to the Network’s approach is that it is not just a static collection of artefacts and items just to be looked at. “We have a really strong emphasis on public engagement, which is why we are the Ted Hughes Network, not the 'Ted Hughes Centre' or similar,” says Dr Underwood. “We have done a lot of public engagement – one-off events for adults or children, up to working with lots of partner organisations. We’ve worked with local charities, local community organisations, the Ted Hughes Society, and we've helped them work together in an academic and public-facing sense.”

 

Some key documents and objects from the collection were on public display for several months in 2018 at Heritage Quay, in an exhibition planned and designed by third year English Literature students.

The Network’s impact has been felt beyond the walls of the University in the relatively short period since it was set up in 2016. It has promoted creative writing in community groups, and given communities a lead in organising their own festivals, work that Dr Ely, author of ‘Ted Hughes’ South Yorkshire’, says is “incredibly rewarding”.

Dr Underwood adds that, “Typically, you acquire an archive, then it sits there and scholars then come to study it in a reading room. We want that to happen, but we are using the archive as a basis to engage with the public. For example, we used Hughes’ own prints and illustrations to spark creative projects with local children. It’s not just sitting on shelves – it is out there and being used.”

The spin-offs from the Network are varied. Heather Clark, one of the leading scholars in the world on Hughes and his first wife Sylvia Plath, was a scholar-in-residence in 2017 and is now Visiting Professor in English Literature at the University.

The Network is also bidding for Heritage Lottery funding to establish the Ted Hughes Trail in Yorkshire, an initiative that has the support of Hughes’ widow Carol. They hope the trail will highlight the places that shaped Hughes, including installations in Mytholmroyd, and at Crookhill, near Mexborough which inspired his poem ‘Pike’.

“It’s been an organic thing; people have become aware of the Network as a place to offer material to but also as a place to come if you want to know more about Ted Hughes. And there’s a sense that in everything we do, we have an eye on taking it beyond academia,” concludes Dr Ely.

Partners

The Elmet Trust, the Ted Hughes Project South Yorkshire, Ted Hughes Society, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, Hebden Royd Council, Calderdale Council, Welcome To Yorkshire.