Ted Hughes (1930-1998) was born in Yorkshire. His first book, The Hawk in the Rain, was published in 1957
by Faber and Faber and was followed by many volumes of poetry and prose for adults and children. He received
the Whitbread Book of the Year for two consecutive years for his last published collections of poetry, Tales from Ovid (1997) and Birthday Letters (1998). He was Poet Laureate from 1984 and in 1998 he was appointed
to the Order of Merit.