Glyn Hughes (writer)
{{Short description|English writer and artist (1935–2011)}}
Glyn Hughes (25 May 1935 – 24 May 2011) was an English poet, novelist and artist.
Early life and education
Glyn Hughes was born on 25 May 1935 in Altrincham.
His father was a bus conductor, who had been unemployed in the 1920's. His mother "cleaned other people's houses."{{cite book |first=Glyn |last=Hughes|title=Millstone Grit |date=1975 |publisher=Readers Union |isbn=978-0575017436}}{{rp|21}}
He grew up in a council house estate, introduced to literature by his father, who was a voracious reader.{{rp|21-22}}
Hughes attended Altrincham Grammar School for Boys.
He has stated that "literature at school was nothing... had nothing to do with my life... A mess of words. "{{rp|22}}
At the age of 13, he discovered Richard Jefferies on his own on the shelves of the public library.{{rp|22-23}}
After grammar school he attended a local art college and later trained to be a teacher.{{cite news |last1=Pownall |first1=David |title=Glyn Hughes obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/jun/02/glyn-hughes-obituary |access-date=12 September 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=2 June 2011 |language=en}}
Career
Hughes worked as a teacher for 10 years before becoming a full-time writer in 1968.
In 1970, he bought a derelict cottage in Millbank, Sowerby Bridge for 50GBP.{{rp|30-31}}
In 1975, he published Millstone Grit, a journey through the West Riding of Yorkshire and East Lancashire. In it, he devotes an entire chapter describing how he interviewed William Holt.{{rp|43-54}}
His 1982 novel Where I Used to Play on the Green won the Guardian Fiction Prize{{cite web |title=Guardian Fiction Prize - britishliteraryprizes |url=https://sites.google.com/a/unca.edu/britishliteraryprizes/home/guardian-fiction-prize |publisher=University of North Carolina |access-date=12 September 2022 |archive-date=12 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912082328/https://sites.google.com/a/unca.edu/britishliteraryprizes/home/guardian-fiction-prize |url-status=dead }} and David Higham Prize for Fiction.{{cite web |title=Book awards: David Higham Prize for Fiction |url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/David%20Higham%20Prize%20for%20Fiction |website=LibraryThing.com |access-date=12 September 2022 |language=en}}
Personal life and death
Hughes was married three times and had one son. He died from cancer on 24 May 2011, at the age of 75.{{cite web |title=HebWeb: Lives remembered - Glyn Hughes |url=https://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/lives-remembered/glyn-hughes.html |website=www.hebdenbridge.co.uk |access-date=12 September 2022}}
Legacy
Millstone Grit was included in "William Atkins's top 10 books of the moor" in 2014,{{cite news |last1=Atkins |first1=William |title=William Atkins's top 10 books of the moor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/04/william-atkins-top-10-books-of-the-moor |access-date=12 September 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=4 June 2014 |language=en}} and was republished by Little Toller Books in 2022 with an introduction by Ben Myers.{{cite web |last1=Myers |first1=Ben |title=Millstone Grit |url=https://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2022/08/millstone-grit-benjamin-myers-introduction/ |website=www.caughtbytheriver.net |access-date=12 September 2022}} Text of introduction to new edition
==Selected publications==
- Towards the Sun: poems & photographs (1971, Harry Chambers, Phoenix Pamphlet Poets, Manchester)
- Millstone Grit (1975, Readers Union: {{ISBN|978-0575017436}})
- Where I Used to Play on the Green (1982, Gollancz: {{ISBN|978-0575029972}})
- Life Class (2009, Shoestring: {{ISBN|9781904886983}})
- A Year in the Bull-box (2011, Arc: {{ISBN|9781906570798}})
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|http://www.glynhughes.co.uk/}}
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Category:People from Altrincham
Category:People from Hebden Bridge
Category:20th-century English poets
Category:20th-century English novelists
Category:21st-century English poets
Category:21st-century English novelists
Category:People educated at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
Category:Writers from Lancashire
Category:Writers from West Yorkshire
Category:Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom