MS 924 01

MS 924 01

Hugo Williams: Poetry

Series

1964-2014

16 sub-series

This series covers the 16 poetry books Williams has had publish to date. It contains numerous drafts in manuscript and typescript forms as well as proofs, correspondence and other related papers.

Drafts of the majority of the poems published in his books are contained in the papers. Where this is not the case, the poem which are not represented are indicated at the appropriate level.

Not all the typescripts contain complete versions of the poems but sometimes only sections as Williams reworked particular stanzas or lines until he was happy with it. In addition a number of the poems, of versions of the poems written under revised titles, would appear in more than one publication as Williams would frequently revisit themes or images throughout his work.

The early drafts also show how he would remove stanza or lines from one poem and incorporate them into another one he felt was more suited. In the later books, a number of the typescripts were cut up and stapled on to a separate sheet as the composition of the poem was changed

The series represents the surviving drafts for the poems, and while this is a comprehensive collection, in some instances, further drafts have not survived

With the exception of ‘Billy’s Rain’, Williams’s own copy of each of his poetry books accompanied the relevant drafts. Some of these contain further corrections to the poems and where this is the case it has been noted on an individual level.