THE CATCH: FISHING FOR TED HUGHES. By Mark Wormald.

(2022) 2022 1st edition reprint. 8vo (150 x 230mm). Ppvi,323,ii. Not illustrated. Green boards, spine titled in gilt.

"Using Hughes's poetry collection 'River' and his fishing diaries as a guide, Mark returns again and again to the rivers and lakes in Britain and Ireland where the poet fished. At times, he uses Ted's fly patterns; at others his rods. It is an obsession; a fundamental connection to nature; a thrilling wildness; an elemental pursuit. But it is also a release and a consolation, as Mark fishes after the sudden death of his mother and during the slow fading of his father. A brilliant blend of memoir and biography, 'The Catch' is a stunning meditation on poetry and nature, and a quiet reflection on what it means to be a father and a son."