Jonathan Bate, working on private records for some years, has had permissions to quote blocked 'out of the blue'
Rights rewritten … Ted Hughes in 1986. Photograph: Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features
The contested life of one of Britain's best-loved poets has erupted into controversy once more, as the estate of Ted Hughes has stopped cooperating with his latest biographer.
The Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate, who began working on a biography of the former poet laureate in 2010, said he was surprised that the estate has barred him from private archives, asked that he return photocopies of privately held documents, and withdrawn his right to quote extensively from the poet's work – described by the professor as "an essential aspect of serious scholarship".
According to Bate, the decision to withdraw support came "completely out of the blue", though the estate was becoming "impatient" to see more of his work.
"The estate was insistent I should write a 'literary life', not a 'biography'," he said, "and wanted to see more sample chapters, in order to ensure I was only writing about life-events that impinged upon the literary life." But just days before Bate was due to send 100,000 words, the estate informed him that he was no longer able to quote from the Hughes archive. The archive was bought by the British Library from his widow, Carol Hughes, for £500,000 in 2008, but the estate retains copyright.
No reasons were offered for this change of heart, but the Oxford University professor suggests that the family may be worried by the prospect of revelations about the poet's private life.
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The Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate, who began working on a biography of the former poet laureate in 2010, said he was surprised that the estate has barred him from private archives, asked that he return photocopies of privately held documents, and withdrawn his right to quote extensively from the poet's work – described by the professor as "an essential aspect of serious scholarship".
According to Bate, the decision to withdraw support came "completely out of the blue", though the estate was becoming "impatient" to see more of his work.
"The estate was insistent I should write a 'literary life', not a 'biography'," he said, "and wanted to see more sample chapters, in order to ensure I was only writing about life-events that impinged upon the literary life." But just days before Bate was due to send 100,000 words, the estate informed him that he was no longer able to quote from the Hughes archive. The archive was bought by the British Library from his widow, Carol Hughes, for £500,000 in 2008, but the estate retains copyright.
No reasons were offered for this change of heart, but the Oxford University professor suggests that the family may be worried by the prospect of revelations about the poet's private life.
More
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