THE LEGACY OF TED HUGHES

Call for papers for an international conference to be held at Pembroke College,Cambridge15-18 September 2026

For the tenth international conference on the work of Ted Hughes we invite papers celebrating and critiquing the wider influence of this remarkably diverse oeuvre. A quarter century since his death, it is now clear that Hughes’sreputation and legacy extends across the globe as the international membership of the Ted Hughes Society indicates. So this conference, hosted and organised by Pembroke College Cambridge with the support of the Society, is an opportunity to critically consider both the qualities in  his amazing range of writing that have inspired a legacy and the nature of the various aspects of Hughes’s widespread influence.

We welcome all proposals for papers responding to any aspect of Hughes’s work, in any context. So the following list of possible themes is indicative rather than definitive and should not be seen as restrictive.

Translation – Hughes brought an internationalism to British poetry in performance as in Poetry International and in co-founding the thriving journal Modern Poetry in Translation. What is the character of this legacy today? What are the issues facing international translators of Hughes’s work?

Creative Writing – where does the early support for the Arvon Foundation stand today? How has the development of the Creative Writing movement diverted from or endorsed Hughes’s vision for it?

Writing for Young People – Hughes has always been anthologised, but what is his influence upon writers foryoung people, internationally, today? Why has The Iron Man continued to outshine The Iron Woman?

Environmentalism – The evidence of Hughes’s activism has been accumulating, but might the time have come for more in depth ecocritical studies, especially from ecofeminism, blue humanities and material ecocriticism? What has been the influence on ecopoetry and how has it subsequently developed?

Fine Press Publishing – beyond the Rainbow Press, Hughes was interested in the making of quality book and paper productions. How do we regard limited edition publishing today? What has been the silent role of the crafts people like Sebastian Carter?

Artistic collaboration – the names from the books are well-known (Leonard Baskin, Fay Godwin, Reg Lloyd), but how much of the detail of these and other collaborations such as that with Barrie Cooke is understood?

Writing for Radio – this is a substantial body of work. How does it compare with poets writing for radio today,such as Simon Armitage, Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley?

 Educational legacy – By Heart, The Rattle Bag, The School Bag, Poetry in the Making.

The Writer as critic – How does the literary criticism of Hughes compare with that other practitioner-critics?

Correspondent – As a man of letters the poet has been compared to Keats by Jonathan Bate, but the recentletters of Seamus Heaney also invite comparison. Is there a legacy of correspondence of such depth and impact from more recent poets?

Plath Studies – Inevitably writers on Plath refer to Hughes. What has been the trajectory of Hughes’s legacy in Plath Studies?

Mythopoesis – Many writers since Hughes have followed Hughes in exploring mythopoetics. How does a poet influenced by Hughes get beyond him?

Confessional Writing – Has Birthday Letters resulted in any subsequent poetry in this mode?

Expressionism – Steve Ely has located Hughes’s work within a European tradition of expressionist works. This frame for reading the poetry and radio drama of Hughes might be explored further. But are there  alternative frames by which Hughes’s poetry might be read, such as the New Nature Writing, for example?

Revivals of the Classics – Roger Rees’s edited book came out in 2009. Other poets such as Tony Harrison and Seamus Heaney have made new translations of Classical plays and texts. How do these, and more recent works, compare with the work of Hughes?

Writing for the Stage – collaboration with theatre directors and performers has left a largely unresearched legacy that needs exploration.

The Singer as Writer of Songs – Hughes sang folksongs, studied under an expert on the ballads, studied them internationally as an anthropologist and reviewed a collection. As a writer of songs himself, what is the legacy of this interest?

Influence – Where can Hughes’s influence be detected in his contemporaries? What is the nature of Hughes’s influence on contemporary poets, and via adaptation? Can his presence be detected as a stylistic influence, or as a pattern from which poets are breaking away?

We would also like to invite creative responses to Hughes’s life and work, which could be in the form of a panel presentation, or a shorter contribution to an open mic evening on 11 September. Presentations combining creative and critical writing are welcomed.

Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to Terry Gifford at t.gifford2@bathspa.ac.uk to arrive before 28 February 2026. We are happy to carry over abstracts already submitted for the proposed 2025 conference, but need an email confirmation to Terry Gifford, T.Gifford2@bathspa.ac.uk, that they should be retained for the 2026 conference. Zoom presentations will be welcomed, but we would love to see you in person. Rooms will be available in Pembroke College, where a conference dinner will also be held on 16 September. Details of bookings will be announced in due course.