Last week Pembroke College, Cambridge made the exciting announcement that the Barrie Cooke Archive - a collection of papers and artwork related to the artist Barrie Cooke and his close friends Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes, is now open to researchers.
Barrie Cooke in 2012. Photo by Mark Wormald.
Mark Wormald, Fellow of Pembroke College and Chair of the Ted Hughes Society wrote:
Pembroke College is delighted to announce the opening today of the internationally significant literary archive of the British-born expressionist artist Barrie Cooke (1931-2014), fisherman and friend of poets, and an associated collection of 150 images he made in response to their work. Cooke moved to Ireland in 1954, and the archive represents an extraordinary record of creative collaboration across geographical borders as well as between visual and literary art.
The full catalogue of the Barrie Cooke Archive can now be accessed online.
For more information on the discovery of the archive and its acquisition see this article in the Guardian.
The Barrie Cooke Archive will undoubtedly have a great effect on the study of the work of Ted Hughes, and one which will no doubt unfold over several years. The Society will be excited to see what researchers find in this treasure trove.