Walks round Ted Hughes’s boyhood village of Mytholmroyd, and nearby Heptonstall, where he later lived, films about the disappearing culture of the Pennine valleys that he documented in his poems, and a talk on the greening of the poet laureate and how he became a committed environmentalist are just some of the highlights of the Ted Hughes festival being staged along the Calder valley by the Elmet Trust from 19-21 October.  Events take place at Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Hardcastle Crags and Heptonstall, and Saturday’s events include a poetry slam in the house in Mytholmroyd where Hughes was born. Poets include Paul Cookson, Andrew McMillan, Kathleen Jamie, Terry Gifford, Helen Burke, Char March, Valerie Laws, and Christopher Reid. More details. Fans of Hughes will also be interested in the newly-published memoir of his elder brother Gerald. You can read a review of Ted and I: A Brother's Memoir here