The New Perspectives Theatre Company are about to embark on a UK tour of their new production The Tiger's Bones and Other Stories: a performance bringing together three of Ted Hughes's plays for children. The tour is running from 20th February to 9th April 2016 and would be well worth checking out for any reader of Hughes, whatever their age. For more information see the New Perspectives website: The Tiger's Bones and Other Stories.
New Ted Hughes Society Journal Issue, Website and Subscription Renewal
The Ted Hughes Society is pleased to announce the publication of the new issue of The Ted Hughes Society Journal (Volume V. 1), which brings together a first collection of outstanding papers from our Sheffield conference, along with reviews of the new books on Hughes and Hughes-related topics recently published. The journal issue is available to Society members now (Volume V. 2 will be published later in 2016).
Along with the new issue of the Journal, we're also happy to launch our new, updated website. The site will feature regular updates and news on Hughes and his work, and will provide an invaluable resource for all readers of Hughes.
Finally, we're also making some small changes to our membership procedure and would like to invite members to renew their subscriptions, and welcome new members who are joining us for the first time. For more details please see the Join section of our website.
Ted Hughes Society Award Announced
The Ted Hughes Society and the Sheffield International Ted Hughes Conference Committee have pleasure in announcing that the winner of the £100 prize for the most outstanding conference paper is awarded to David Troupes (Sheffield University) whose paper, “Putting the Primitive in Primitive Methodism”, will be published in the forthcoming issue of Ted Hughes Society Journal.
Of David’s paper the judges said: ‘David Troupes contributes original research to his reading of familiar texts and combines this with an elegant argument, whilst correcting some confusions around discussions of Methodism and handling contradictory opinions in his sources with thoughtful clarity. This is a mature, original and well structured paper.’
Ted Hughes: Dreams as Deep as England
'Ted Hughes: Dreams as Deep as England', the seventh international conference devoted to the poet’s work, was held at Sheffield University from 9-12 September 2015, and hosted by the University’s School of English; the organising committee was chaired by Neil Roberts, to whom particular thanks are due.
Sixty delegates assembled for three fascinating days of parallel sessions of papers on many aspects of Hughes’s writing. Highlights included a poetry reading by Simon Armitage, a keynote lecture by Seamus Perry on ‘Hughes’ Urbanity’, and a conversation with Jonathan Bate about his book Ted Hughes: the Unauthorised Life, published in October by HarperCollins. Steve Ely, author of Made in Mexborough: Ted Hughes’s South Yorkshire, led a tour for delegates of the places and landscapes where Hughes lived from the age of eight to twenty-one, and where he became a poet.
The next two issues of the Ted Hughes Society Journal, to be published in January and July 2016, will include a selection of papers from the Sheffield Conference and reviews of recent publications. The journal welcomes contributions on any aspect of Hughes’s life and work; authors of papers are invited to consult the journal’s submission guidelines.