Richard Hugo

Richard Hugo was a poet of the Pacific Northwest, yet his renown attests to a stature greater than that of most “regional” poets. Critics have praised Hugo’s technical skills, the emotional impact of his compressed images, and the casual, sometimes humorous tone of his poems. In addition to his major poetry collections—including Selected Poems (1979), 31 Letters and 13 Dreams (1977), What Thou Lovest Well, Remains American (1975), The Lady in Kicking Horse Reservoir (1973), Good Luck in Cracked Italian (1969), Death of the Kapowsin Tavern (1965), and A Run of Jacks (1961). His forte, however, was poetry, and his characteristic stance as a self-analytic writer, a perceptive observer, and a Westerner is evident in Making Certain It Goes On: The Collected Poems of Richard Hugo (1984). Hugo died in October 22, 1982 in Seattle, Washington. (Source)