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This book is the first book devoted entirely to Hughes as an environmental activist and writer. Drawing on the rapidly-growing interest in poetry and the environment, the book deploys insights from ecopoetics, ecocriticism and Anthropocene studies to analyse how Hughes's poetry reflects his environmental awareness. Hughes's understanding of environmental issues is placed within the context of twentieth-century developments in 'green' ideology and politics, challenging earlier scholars who have seen his work as apolitical. The unique strengths of this book lie in its combination of cutting-edge insights on ecocriticism with extensive work on the British Library's new Ted Hughes archive. It will appeal to readers who enjoy Hughes's work, as well as students and academics.
List of contents
1. Hughes and Ecopoetry.- 2. From Mytholmroyd to Mexborough: Origins of Hughes's Environmental Awareness.- 3. 'Long live the weeds and the wilderness': 'Green' Literary Influences.- 4. Animal Agency, America and Early Environmental Views.- 5. The Environmental Revolution.- 6. Hughes's Farming.- 7. 'Join Water'.- 8. Green Laureate.- 9. Global Environments.- 10. Hunting, Shooting, Fishing - And Conservation?.- Index.
About the author
Yvonne Reddick is Research Fellow in Modern English and World Literatures at University of Central Lancashire, UK, and she has previously held a research fellowship at the University of Warwick. She is a poet and scholar of literature and the environment. She won the
Mslexia Poetry Pamphlet Competition and a Northern Writer's Award in 2016, and her pamphlet
Translating Mountains is now available.
Summary
This book is the first book devoted entirely to Hughes as an environmental activist and writer. Drawing on the rapidly-growing interest in poetry and the environment, the book deploys insights from ecopoetics, ecocriticism and Anthropocene studies to analyse how Hughes’s poetry reflects his environmental awareness. Hughes’s understanding of environmental issues is placed within the context of twentieth-century developments in ‘green’ ideology and politics, challenging earlier scholars who have seen his work as apolitical. The unique strengths of this book lie in its combination of cutting-edge insights on ecocriticism with extensive work on the British Library’s new Ted Hughes archive. It will appeal to readers who enjoy Hughes’s work, as well as students and academics.
