Originally published in 1979, Moortown Diary is the updated version of Ted Hughes's acclaimed Devon farming sequence, written over a period of several years during which he was spending almost every day outside, either gardening or farming.

The introduction and notes (added in 1989) sketch the background from which these remarkable poems emerged as an improvised verse journal, sparingly edited, spontaneously coalescing on the page.

'Moortown Diary keeps its eye firmly on the creatures behind the language. It's written in the style of Hughes's play translations: very swift, bright, urgent, and speakable . . . Hughes strips away the protective layers - the soundproofed ears, the double-glazed eyes - that prevent us from making contact with anything outside ourselves. Right now, I can't think of anything more important than that kind of poem. Because we're not just here to think about literature. We're here to try to wake up.' Alice Oswald, The Guardian

'It grips your heart and your intestines, like a vice from the first page. He makes language as physical as a bruise, and in these poems, beauty and tenderness blend with violence.' John Carey, Sunday Times

'The Moortown sequence includes some of Hughes's finest poems . . . They are unlike any other poems I have read, with a degree of intensity, sanity, and grace that he has never equaled.' Anthony Thwaite, Times Literary Supplement

Pages: 80, Dimensions: 13.1x13.1cm