Ted Hughes

A few days ago, I linked to an interview with Al Alvarez in which the British editor and critic admitted that his admiration of Sylvia Plath's poetry had grown considerably in the intervening years. So much so that he argued her achievement now eclipsed Ted Hughes'. Predictably, my Facebook comment stream exploded. Among the commentators was Scottish poet Gerry Cambridge who defended Hughes, often quoting snippets from his own review of Hughes' Collected Poems which appeared in The Dark Horse, a literary magazine he edits. Intrigued by the portions he was quoting, I asked him to post the entire review online. I'm glad I did: the piece is superb. One of the most nuanced, incisive and penetrating assessments I've read of the book and, indeed, of Hughes' career. You'll find it here.