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Announcements 2009
▪ The National's production of Ted Hughes's Phèdre this past summer has received high praise from reviewers. This recommendation by Victor Hallett from the Scala Cinema in Prestatyn, Wales continues with another accolade for this energetic production.
▪ A review of the 'Crow and Raven', the current exhibit at The Clark (see below), was written by Stephen Dravis and published in The Advocate (Williamstown) on October 28th, 2009.
▪ 'My Hero Ted Hughes' by Michael Morpurgo was published in The Guardian on October 31, 2009. The current Children's Laureate is Anthony Browne. His term will run from June 2009 -2011.
▪ Ted Hughes's Crow and Leonard Baskin's drawings together with Stéphane Mallarmé's Le Corbeau (his translation of Edgar Allan Poe's Raven) with drawings by Edouard Manet are the subject of an exhibition entitled 'Crow and Raven: Baskin, Hughes, Manet, Poe' that is forthcoming at the The Clark (Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts) from October 16th, 2009 until January 10th, 2010. The twelve Baskin drawings have not been seen in a public exhibit until now.
▪ Ted Hughes's Crow and Charles Darwin are the focus of an exhibition on evolution entitled 'The Evolution of Crow, Innerspace, Species Icons' —2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of the Species— which will be located in the main and corridor galleries of the Schatten Gallery of Emory Library. The exhibition opens on October 14th, 2009 and closes on January 29th, 2010. 'The Evolution of Crow' was written by Tara Bergin and the etchings that accompany the work are by artist Alan Turnbull.
▪ The Cambridge Companion to Ted Hughes (Cambridge University Press) edited by Terry Gifford is estimated for publication in 2010.
▪ Simon Goldhill (King's College, Cambridge) has reviewed Ted Hughes and the Classics edited by Roger Rees and published by Oxford University Press. The review was published in the September 2009 edition of the Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
▪ The 2009 Off the Shelf Festival of Reading and Writing held in Sheffield includes a presentation by Terry Gifford, 'Ted Hughes- Environmentalist', on October 15th, 2009 at the Showroom Cinema, Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX at 7:00 PM.
▪ Thames & Hudson, well-known publishers of illustrated works on art and architecture, will publish a facsimile edition of Ted Hughes's purportedly first children's book, Timmy the Tug, with illustrations by Jim Downer as well as an afterword by the illustrator. This will be the first edition. The anticipated release date is September 2009. One may view a page of this attractive forthcoming work at the Thames and Hudson website in their July - December 2009 Catalogue on page 22.
▪ At the British Library typepad for the Ted Hughes Archive, Helen Broderick discusses the unpublished material relating to Crow in the archive material. Broderick is the curator of the Ted Hughes Archive acquired by the British Library in October 2008, Recently, she was interviewed about her work by Stewart Henderson for the July 23rd, 2009 broadcast of Questions, Questions on BBC 4. The interview can be listened to until the 29th of July.
Crow also features in a new film and more information on this film can be found at the Elmet Trust Web Page. Other items can be read at Earth Moon.
▪ Both performances of Ted Hughes's translation of Racine's Phèdre in the 2,400 year-old Epidaurus amphitheatre with its 11,000 seats were sold-out. The review by Ben Hoyle published in The Times can be read here.
▪ Michael Billington reviews the NT Live broadcast of Nicholas Hytner's Phèdre in The Guardian on June 26th, 2009.
▪ The first play of NT Live took place on June 25th, 2009 with Nicholas Hytner's production of Ted Hughes's version of Jean Racine's Phèdre. Prior to the show Jeremy Irons and Nicholas Hytner discussed this new venture before taking their seats in the Lyttelton Theatre. As its director explained, the drama was played to the audience and not to the cameras. Hytner admitted that he was not certain what to expect from this filming which was broadcast via satellite around the world.
The whole cast performed with brilliance before the cameras and live audience but it was John Shrapnel's Théamène who brought down the full impact of this tragedy in a powerful and emotional delivery to Theseus on the horrific death of his son followed by Ruth Negga's Aricia dragging the bagged, bloodied body of Hippolytus onto the stage.
The production at the Epidaurus Ancient Theatre later this summer should be a great success and it would have been an excellent location for the the NT live broadcast.
▪ The National Theatre has prepared, for their elaborate production of Phèdre, a number of excellent and informative background videos etcetra for this highly praised event. Exploration of their web page is rewarded. A programme is available to the public to order for £3 and includes three essays: 'A Myth of Desire' by Mary Beard, 'Racine and Phedre' by Michael Hawcroft and 'Ted Hughes and Phedre' by Blake Morrison. Here Chris Campbell, who is introduced by John Shrapnel, talks about Racine, Hughes and their very different versions of this classic. Further documentaries are forthcoming.
▪ This year the 'Ted Hughes Memorial Lecture' will be delivered by Andrew Motion, 'How Ted Hughes Became', at the Ways with Words Festival, Darlington Hall on Saturday, July 11th, 2009 in the Great Hall at 2:00 PM. Andrew Motion talks about the forthcoming lecture in the Telegraph. In the morning, Terry Gifford will give a talk, 'Ted Hughes Environmentalist', at 10:00 AM in the Barn Theatre followed by Noel Chanan whose documentary film on Ted Hughes and Leonard Baskin will be screened at 10:30 AM.
▪ 'Ted Hughes Early Poems: "The Page is Printed"' —a three day course with Roger Elkin, June 5-7, 2009 at the Wedgwood Memorial College. Ring 01782372105. Roger Elkin has given a number of papers at International Ted Hughes Conferences. One of his latest essays on the work of Hughes was published in Agenda - the 'Past Histories' issue.
▪ 'Ted Hughes: Eco Warrior' by Simon Armitage on BBC- Radio 4 (FM) on May 15th, 2009 at 11:00 am. 'How Ted Hughes became a committed campaigner for the environment'. (The Guardian announcement by Simon Armitage)
▪ Tracks of Peter Michaels's music written for Adam Barnard's The Story of Vasco are on his web site. A beautiful tribute to the little barber.
▪ There are two forthcoming events in the area of Ted Hughes scholarship which may make the following essay particularly noteworthy at this time. The first is the publication of David Gervais's essay 'Beyond tragedy: Ted Hughes, Racine and Euripides' in Ted Hughes and the Classics which is estimated to be published by OUP in July. The second is the major production of Nicholas Hytner's Phèdre which will be presented at the National Theatre in London, live on screen internationally, and with further productions in Greece at the Epidaurus Ancient Theatre and Washington. The essay is entitled 'Comparison entre la Phèdre de Racine et celle d'Euripide' (1807/1842) written by August W. Schlegel (1767-1845), classicist and a leader of German Romanticism. The essay has been edited by Donald J Mastronarde and includes an introduction and annotations. It has been published to the web by the Dept. of Classics, University of California at Berkley, eScholarship Repository of the California Digital Library (2006).
▪ Ted Hughes's adaptation (1) of Georges Schehadé's The Story of Vasco will play at the Orange Tree Theatre, 1 Clarence St., Richmond, Surrey from March 25th, 2009 - April 25th, 2009. This is the world première of Ted Hughes's translation. Design is by Sam Dowson, lighting by John Harris and music by Peter Michaels. Vasco is played by Jonathan Broadbent and Marguerite by Laura Rees. The Orange Tree Theatre is a theatre in-the-round. [ more... ]
Director: Adam Barnard
▪ Richard Negri (1927-1999) was the theatre designer of Gordon Crosse's opera The Story of Vasco From February 6th - March 6th, 2009, an exhibition of his work, curated by David Burrows, is taking place in the Gallery of the Wimbledon College of Art, Merton Hall Road where Negri was a teacher. Apparently the scale models from The Story of Vasco are on display. The Richard Negri web site displays photographs of the orchestra and singers of the Sadler Wells Opera (ENO) taken during a performance of The Story of Vasco at the Coliseum along with some of the scale models made by Negri. Further information: thegallery@wimbledon.arts.ac.uk
▪ Call for Papers: Ted Hughes From Cambridge to Collected an International Conference at Pembroke College September 18th - 23rd, 2010. A two hundred word abstract should be sent to Neil Roberts by February 1st, 2010. The beautiful stained glass windows are some of those that were created and installed as a memorial to Ted Hughes at Pembroke College.
▪ Nicholas Farrar Hughes received his Bachelor and Masters degrees at the University of Oxford before completing his PhD at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where for many years he was a professor in the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Internationally, he was a respected scientist in stream salmonid ecology. To honour the late Dr. Hughes, the University of Alaska Fairbanks has established The Nick Hughes Memorial Scholarship Fund. The announcement was made during a recent memorial service at the university. Contributions are welcome. Further information is available at the University of Alaska Fairbanks web site of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences on a separate page dedicated to him.
▪ On Saturday, April 18th, 2009 from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM, a seminar on the life and work of Ted Hughes will be held at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond where The Story of Vasco continues until April 25th. The participants are: Elaine Feinstein, David Hersant and Daniel Weissbort..
▪ Barrie Cooke: Portraits at the The Butler Gallery, The Castle, Kilkenny, Ireland from March 14th - April 26th, 2009. The exhibition includes his portrait of Ted Hughes. This may be the first time that Barrie Cooke's splendid portrait of the late poet has been exhibited for public viewing. In a recent interview, Cooke expressed an ambition: he would like his portraiture to warrant an exhibition on its own. A catalogue is available. The exhibit was reviewed by Aiden Dunne.
▪ Ted Hughes's translation of Racine's Phèdre, with Helen Mirren as Phèdre, will play at the Epidaurus Ancient Theatre on July 10th and 11th, 2009 at 9:00 PM. Tickets for these performances in Greece go on sale in June. Later in the season, The National will take the production to Washington, DC from September 17th - 26th, 2009. Nicholas Hytner will talk about his production of Phèdra in the Lyttelton Theatre at the National on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009. at 6:00 PM (£3.50).
▪ The 2007 Academy Award winner for best actress (The Queen), Dame Helen Mirren, will play Phaedra in Ted Hughes's version after Racine in June. The National Theatre production will be directed by Nicholas Hytner, (the National's Artistic Director) with Dominic Cooper as Hippolytus. The live performance will be filmed and made available in screening venues throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. Tickets for the performance go on sale in March.
▪ As another major production of one of Ted Hughes's translations of an ancient classic approaches its premiere one is able to listen to the University of Oxford's international authority on the reception of ancient texts in the modern era, Professor Oliver Taplin. During this interview on September 12th, 2008 with Oliver Lewis, he talks about his interests in the Classics, and the development of the APGRD. Oliver Taplin was the dramaturge of Katie Mitchell's production of Ted Hughes's Oresteia.
▪ Ted Hughes and the Classics edited by Roger Rees and published by Oxford University Press is expected to be released in June 2009. Ted Hughes's classical plays are: Oedipus Rex (after Seneca), Tales from Ovid, Euripides's Phaedra (after Jean Racine), Aechylus's Oresteia, Euripides's Alcestis, Orghast (unpublished). In addition, dozens of poems contain classical references and Classical Receptions in Drama and Poetry in English from c. 1970 to the Present at The Open University lists them.
▪ 2009 Bath Literature Festival includes the entry 'Retrospectives'. This will be a discussion on Ted Hughes by the poet and critic Tom Paulin who will be in conversation with Paul Keegan (editor of the Collected Poems) on Saturday, February 28th, 2009 in the Guildhall at 19:00 - 20:30. Ring 01225 462231.The same programme will include Lavinia Greenlaw on T. S. Eliot, and James Fenton on W. H. Auden,
▪ The new Mexborough School was officially opened on January 22, 2009 by HRH The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward. The new library has been named The Ted Hughes Poet Laureate Library. Carol Hughes, widow of the late poet, was in attendance.
▪ On May 1, 2009, Palgrave Macmillian anticipates the release of the paperback edition of Ted Hughes: A Literary Life by Neil Roberts. ISBN13: 9780230580978.
▪ In the auditorium of the Hellenic American Union, Massalias 22 Str., Kolonaki, 2nd Floor, Athens on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 7:00 PM, a Panel Discussion on Hughes and Plath will take place with the participation of academics, researchers, translators and poets.
Other Items
▪ The Lady of Burma by Richard Shannon
▪ The five year term of Christopher Ricks as Oxford Professor of Poetry will be completed in September of 2009. With the new elections forthcoming in May, the considered candidates are being discussed. Robert Potts writes in the Guardian on January 22nd 2009.
▪ The First International T. S. Eliot Summer School will be held this summer in London at the School of Advanced Studies, Institute of English Studies, University of London from June 27th, 2009 - July 4th, 2009. Founded by Ronald Schuchard, Director (1) and with Wim Van Mierlo as Executive Director (2), this forthcoming international summer school will have its inaugural address delivered by Seamus Heaney. Instructors this summer will include, among others, Professor John Haffenden, and Professor Christopher Ricks. 1. Ronald Schuchard was one of the organizers of the 5th International Ted Hughes Conference held at Emory University, Atlanta in 2005. 2. Wim Van Mierlo's work includes a forthcoming text from the Macmillan Chronology Series entitled A Ted Hughes/ Sylvia Plath Chronology.
Notes 1. Previously Robert Baldick had translated Georges Schéhadé's Story of Vasco into English. The translation was published by Penguin in 1967 (edited by Robert Baldick), in an edition entitled Theatre of War. 2.The photograph is from the Chena River Chinook Salmon Study of which Nicholas Hughes was a "principal investigator".
Archive of previous years: 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001
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