Main content

Poet Simon Armitage talks about reading Hughes as a child and, later, finding an unexpected tenderness the poet's work.

Poet Simon Armitage talks about reading Ted Hughes as a child and, later, finding an unexpected in tenderness the poet's work. This essay includes a close reading of Hughes's poem Full Moon and Little Frieda.

Ted Hughes died in 2018, and we are still arguing about his legacy. In a new series of the Radio 3 Essay, leading poets bring a sharp eye to the poems themselves, reminding us why Hughes is regarded as one of the 20th-century's greatest writers, and exploring how the works match up to, inform and contradict what we know of the man.

Recorded before a live audience at the 主播大秀's Contains Strong Language Festival in Hull in 2018.

Written and read by Simon Armitage.
Produced by Simon Richardson.

Available now

14 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Fri 26 Oct 2018 22:45
  • Fri 8 Oct 2021 22:45

Death in Trieste

Death in Trieste

A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.

Watch: My Deaf World

Watch: My Deaf World

Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.

The Book that Changed Me

Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.

Download The Essay

Download The Essay

Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.

Podcast