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The Poet Laureate looks into a tiger’s eyes, holds a giant African land snail in the palm of his hand, and stands in the middle of a room full of spiders as he drafts a brand new animal poem across this series. In this episode Simon Armitage goes to look for foxes in Surrey, and visits the poet Ted Hughes' old bedroom where he once had a mysterious dream about a burned creature that was half fox and half man. Across different creaturely encounters, meetings with poets, and with some of the most vivid poems about animals ever written, Simon asks whether a poem can bring an animal closer to us, and if poetry can help us grasp what other animals really mean to our species. Contributors: Dr Mark Wormald Adele Brand The foxes of Surrey Audio archive sources: Listening and Writing: Two Talks By Ted Hughes’ – Â鶹Éç - 1961 ‘Ted Hughes: Force of Nature' - Â鶹Éç2 - 1988 ('Thames extract - ITV ) Interview with Ted Hughes at New York's 92nd Street Y - Unterberg Center – 1986 Produced by Faith Lawrence Mixed by Sue Stonestreet