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The Real West Marginal Way: A Poet's Autobiography
Hugo was also an editor of the Yale Younger Poets series and a distinguished teacher and master of the personal essay. Now many of his essays have been assembled and arranged by Ripley Hugo, the poet's widow and a writer and teacher, and Lois and James Welch, writers and close friends of the poet. Together the essays constitute a compelling autobiographical narrative that takes Hugo from his lonely childhood through the war years and his working and creative life to an interview just before his death in 1982. William Matthews, also a friend of Hugo's, has written an introduction.
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1986
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About the author
Richard Hugo
47 books67 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Richard Hugo (December 21, 1923 - October 22, 1982), born Richard Hogan, was an American poet. Primarily a regionalist, Hugo's work reflects the economic depression of the Northwest, particularly Montana. Born in White Center, Washington, he was raised by his mother's parents after his father left the family. In 1942 he legally changed his name to Richard Hugo, taking his stepfather's surname. He served in World War II as a bombardier in the Mediterranean. He left the service in 1945 after flying 35 combat missions and reaching the rank of first lieutenant.
Hugo received his B.A. in 1948 and his M.A. in 1952 in Creative Writing from the University of Washington where he studied under Theodore Roethke.[1] He married Barbara Williams in 1952, the same year he started working as a technical writer for Boeing.
In 1961 his first book of poems, A Run of Jacks, was published. Soon after he took a creative writing teaching job at the University of Montana. He later became the head of the creative writing program there.[2] His wife returned to Seattle in 1964, and they divorced soon after. He published five more books of poetry, a memoir, a highly respected book on writing, and also a mystery novel. His posthumous book of collected poetry, Making Certain It Goes On, evinces that his poems are marked by crisp, gorgeous images of nature that often stand in contrast to his own depression, loneliness, and alcoholism. Although almost always written in free verse, his poems have a strong sense of rhythm that often echoes iambic meters. He also wrote of large number of informal epistolary poems at a time when that form was unfashionable.
Hugo was a friend of poet James Wright.
Hugo’s The Real West Marginal Way is a collection of essays, generally autobiographical in nature, that detail his childhood, his military service, his poetics, and his teaching.
Hugo remarried in 1974 to Ripley Schemm Hansen. In 1977 he was named the editor of the Yale Younger Poets Series.
Hugo died of leukemia on October 22, 1982.
Richard Hugo (December 21, 1923 - October 22, 1982), born Richard Hogan, was an American poet. Primarily a regionalist, Hugo's work reflects the economic depression of the Northwest, particularly Montana. Born in White Center, Washington, he was raised by his mother's parents after his father left the family. In 1942 he legally changed his name to Richard Hugo, taking his stepfather's surname. He served in World War II as a bombardier in the Mediterranean. He left the service in 1945 after flying 35 combat missions and reaching the rank of first lieutenant.
Hugo received his B.A. in 1948 and his M.A. in 1952 in Creative Writing from the University of Washington where he studied under Theodore Roethke.[1] He married Barbara Williams in 1952, the same year he started working as a technical writer for Boeing.
In 1961 his first book of poems, A Run of Jacks, was published. Soon after he took a creative writing teaching job at the University of Montana. He later became the head of the creative writing program there.[2] His wife returned to Seattle in 1964, and they divorced soon after. He published five more books of poetry, a memoir, a highly respected book on writing, and also a mystery novel. His posthumous book of collected poetry, Making Certain It Goes On, evinces that his poems are marked by crisp, gorgeous images of nature that often stand in contrast to his own depression, loneliness, and alcoholism. Although almost always written in free verse, his poems have a strong sense of rhythm that often echoes iambic meters. He also wrote of large number of informal epistolary poems at a time when that form was unfashionable.
Hugo was a friend of poet James Wright.
Hugo’s The Real West Marginal Way is a collection of essays, generally autobiographical in nature, that detail his childhood, his military service, his poetics, and his teaching.
Hugo remarried in 1974 to Ripley Schemm Hansen. In 1977 he was named the editor of the Yale Younger Poets Series.
Hugo died of leukemia on October 22, 1982.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 9, 2012
Since I recently got hooked on Hugo's poetry, and can identify
with where he grew up, I was glad to read this autobiography
to get a better idea of where his poems were coming from.
(Never from a place where "from" at the end of a sentence was
a big problem, that's for sure.) He was 58 when he died in 1982,
and this book and his collected poems were published after that,
but were assembled in accordance with his known plans and wishes.
Hard life, very productive despite or because of that.
with where he grew up, I was glad to read this autobiography
to get a better idea of where his poems were coming from.
(Never from a place where "from" at the end of a sentence was
a big problem, that's for sure.) He was 58 when he died in 1982,
and this book and his collected poems were published after that,
but were assembled in accordance with his known plans and wishes.
Hard life, very productive despite or because of that.
May 1, 2012
Wonderful autobiography about growing up in the Northwest, becoming a poet. But for me, most interesting as a document of life in Seattle in the 1930s and 1940s, and again in Missoula later on. Fantastically evocative description of the places he lived in and the people he lived among.
April 14, 2020
I did not enjoy the book as much as most reviewers. In fact, three stars is a bit of a stretch. On the other hand, I love his book The Triggering Town. A few of those essays are in this book as well. My favorite page was a picture of Hugo after landing from a bombing mission in Italy in WWII. I also love the idea of doing a Self-Interview. I think I want to try one.
Read
March 11, 2022Vivid, funny, and vulnerable, these lyrical snapshots are at once grounded in very particular moments, yet also timeless in teasing out why one might attempt to create something in response to life's joys and sorrows.
December 3, 2025
Audiobook
March 24, 2017
The essays that came together to form this book flow seamlessly. It was a great autobiography. Interesting man.
October 23, 2008
This is a series of personal essays, not quite chronological, by and about Richard Hugo, the Montana/Northwestern poet who has been unjustly neglected. He is clear, blunt, opinionated, funny, sentimental, honest, and, in the end, optimistic about the power of words and poetry to achieve personal redemption.
November 23, 2007
I read the first couple of chapters, because Hugo describes the area where I now live.
November 17, 2008
Richard Hugo grew up in South Seattle (White Center/Rat City) and worked at Boeing as he was becoming a poet. He attended UW and was in Theodore Roethke's first class.
February 13, 2011
need to re-read
June 3, 2011
I wrote a review that covered this book as well as four others. You can find it here:
http://hubpages.com/hub/FiveBestNewBo...
http://hubpages.com/hub/FiveBestNewBo...
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews