Ted Hughes book incites war of words with widow

Carol Hughes (right) became the poet's second wife in 1970

An unauthorised biography of Ted Hughes has been attacked by the English poet's widow just days after being shortlisted for a prestigious literary award.

Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life, one of six titles up for the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize, is accused of containing "significant errors" by Hughes' estate.

Publisher HarperCollins said Jonathan Bate "regret[ted] any minor errors" but said it "stood by" his "masterly" tome.

A spokesperson for the Samuel Johnson Prize declined to comment on the row.

Bate, a professor of English Literature at Oxford, initially began work on his 672-page book with the qualified assent of the Ted Hughes estate and Hughes' widow, Carol.

Last year, though, the estate informed the author it was withdrawing its co-operation because it feared he was straying from an agreement not to write a standard biography.

In a statement issued by the estate's solicitor, Bate's book - serialised in the Times newspapers ahead of its publication on 1 October - is accused of containing "glaring factual inaccuracy and tasteless speculation".

It draws particular attention to a claim made by Bate that Hughes' widow and son stopped off "for a good lunch" while accompanying his coffin from London to Devon in the hours after his death in October 1998.

"The idea that Nicholas and I would be enjoying a 'good lunch' while Ted lay dead in the hearse outside is a slur suggesting utter disrespect," said Carol Hughes.

Ted Hughes was previously married to the American writer Sylvia Plath

The estate's solicitor, Damon Parker, said Carol Hughes had not read Bate's book but had been led to believe that "the portrait presented of her late husband [was] something of a caricature".

He called on HarperCollins to apologise for the alleged errors, issue a retraction, and agree to make corrections to the biography's future and e-book editions.

The publisher responded by saying Bate had made "every effort to corroborate all facts used in the book, which was made more difficult by the withdrawal of support for the project by the Ted Hughes Estate".

It said the book had been "written in good faith" and "verified by multiple sources", adding that "any errors found" would "of course be corrected in the next printing".

This did not satisfy the estate, which told the BBC on Thursday it was "patently incorrect" for HarperCollins to say the academic had made "every" effort to corroborate facts.

"There was nothing to prevent the author seeking confirmation from the poet's widow... of the points which he has got wrong in his book," said Parker.

He also said that Carol Hughes had "contacted the author privately" this summer with an offer to "check for... factual errors", an offer that "was not taken up".

The winner of the £20,000 Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction writing will be announced on 2 November.

The recipient of last year's award, Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk, went on to become a number one bestseller.