This Reader's Guide charts the reception history of Ted Hughes' poetry from his first to last published collection, culminating in posthumous tributes and assessments of his lifetime achievement. Sandie Byrne explores the criticism relating to key issues such as nature, myth, the Laureateship, and Hughes' relationship with Sylvia Plath.

This is the first collection of essays to be published since the poet's death. Continuing a tradition of more than thirty years of Ted Hughes studies, it gathers contributions by most of the major international Hughes scholars, voicing their critical preoccupations at the turn of the century. Over the years, academic criticism on the poetry of Ted Hughes has established some well-trodden paths, which this collection still strongly reflects, however, the productions of the latter Hughes, in poetry as well as in criticism, demand a revisiting of the critical discourse on his work. The biographical dimension, for instance, has gradually gathered momentum, and it is no longer possible to study the work of Ted Hughes without due reference to the life and work of Sylvia Plath. This book is, nonetheless, also motivated by the wish to bring some fresh blood to the Hughes studies by politely rocking the boat of a rather comfortably established critical reception that has prided itself on being the mouthpiece of the poet's own ideological discourse. For this reason, some of the chapters in this collection belong to a continental European tradition that is resolutely foreign to the former partisanships. For all that, Ted Hughes: Alternative Horizons suggests that steering clear of the polemical ruts dug by fans and detractors alike can only benefit the future of scholarly studies devoted to a great poet.

This innovative casebook introduces readers to wide-ranging critical dialogue about the work of Ted Hughes, one of the most popular and influential British poets of the 20th century. In twelve new essays, international authorities on Hughes examine and debate his work, shedding new light on familiar texts. Split into two parts, the first half of this book examines Hughes' work through cultural contexts, such as postmodernism and the carnivalesque, while the second part uses literary theories including postcolonialism, ecocriticism and trauma theory to interpret his poetry. Providing fresh inspiration and insights into the various diverse ways in which Hughes' writing can be interpreted, this volume is an ideal introduction to both literary theory and the work of Ted Hughes for literature students and scholars alike.

Explores the life, work and literary significance of the late Poet Laureate.

A brilliant new study of one of the great English poets of the 20th Century, by a distinguished critic and scholar.This book opens with a section on Hughes's life, including the relationship with Sylvia Plath and the effect of her suicide on his poetry and reputation, followed by a review of Hughes's artistic strategies, his poetic language, and influences on his work. including the poets of Eastern Europe. The body of the book offers an approach to reading New Selected Poems (1995), taking in turn each of the remarkable and remarkably varied works from which the poems were selected - The Hawk in the Rain, Lupercal, Wodwo, Crow, Cave Birds, Season Songs, Gaudete, Remains of Elmet, Moortown Diary, River and Wolfwatching. It concludes with a review of Hughes's reception, and a six-page bibliography. Professor Roberts's books include Ted Hughes: A Critical Study (with Terry Gifford, Faber, 1981), D. H. Lawrence, Travel and Cultural Difference (Palgrave, 2004), and Ted Hughes: A Literary Life (Palgrave, 2006.

This book is a radical re-appraisal of the poetry of Ted Hughes, placing him in the context of continental theorists such as Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida and Slavoj Zizek to address the traumas of his work. As an undergraduate, Hughes was visited in his sleep by a burnt fox/man who left a bloody handprint on his essay, warning him of the dangers of literary criticism. Hereafter, criticism became ‘burning the foxes’. This book offers a defence of literary criticism, drawing Hughes’ poetry and prose into the network of theoretical work he dismissed as ‘the tyrant’s whisper’ by demonstrating a shared concern with trauma. Covering a wide range of Hughes’ work, it explores the various traumas that define his writing. Whether it is comparing his idea of man as split from nature with that of Jacques Lacan, considering his challenging relationship with language in light of Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida, seeing him in the art gallery and at the movies with Gilles Deleuze, or considering his troubled relationship with femininity in regard to Teresa Brennan and Slavoj Žižek, Burning the Foxes offers a fresh look at a familiar poet.

A brilliant new study guide to perhaps the finest English poet of the 20th Century, by a distinguished critic and scholar. This book opens with a section on Hughes's life, including an authoritative treatment of the relationship with Sylvia Plath and the effect of her suicide on his poetry and reputation, followed by a review of Hughes's artistic strategies, his poetic language, and influences on his work, including his openness to mythology and the poets of Eastern Europe. The body of the study guide offers an approach to reading New Selected Poems (1995), taking in turn each of the remarkable and remarkably varied works from which the poems were selected—The Hawk in the Rain, Lupercal, Wodwo, Crow, Cave Birds, Season Songs, Gaudete, Remains of Elmet, Moortown Diary, River and Wolfwatching. It concludes with a review of Hughes's reception, and a six-page bibliography.

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.