Cave Birds is the least well known and understood of Hughes's major collections. This is partly because some of the poems are difficult, but the difficulty is increased by the fact that it has never been republished with the Leonard Baskin drawings that are an integral part of the work. Words and images are more closely connected than in any other book by Hughes. It doesn't help that Hughes himself seems not to have liked Cave Birds.
Neil Roberts and Kate Robinson disagree with Hughes and will be leading a discussion which they hope will enhance understanding and appreciation of this neglected masterpiece. Neil will be exploring the way the sequence developed in response to Baskin's drawings. Kate will discuss the collection’s debts to early Welsh literature. These Welsh underpinnings provide a window into the book’s narrative and into Hughes’s evolving syncretism in this 'Alchemical Cave Drama’.
The event takes place online: Wednesday 3 November, 18.00-19.30 GMT, to register please follow the link below.