Profile swoops for Magpie memoir by painter and poet Hughes

Profile has acquired George: A Magpie Memoir by poet and painter Frieda Hughes.

Publishing director Cecily Gayford bought world all language rights from Antony Harwood at Antony Harwood Ltd, while US rights have been bought by Lauren Wein at Avid Reader Press. The memoir is scheduled for publication in April 2023.

"George: A Magpie Memoir tells the wonderful story of how it feels to unexpectedly love a wild thing that has chosen you for its home," the synopsis states. "When Frieda Hughes rescued a tiny magpie chick from a storm in her garden she didn’t expect him to last the night. But he did – and before her eyes he grew from a shrieking scrap of feathers and bones into an intelligent, unruly companion for her life deep in the Welsh countryside. His name was George.

"Over the next weeks and months, Frieda is captivated by George, watching as he learns to fly, feed himself and roam the landscape, always returning at the sound of a whistle to land on her shoulder. But as George grows, Frieda must prepare herself for the day when he will no longer fly back to her."

Hughes has written several children’s books, eight collections of poetry, articles for magazines and newspapers, and was the Times poetry columnist. As a painter, she regularly exhibits in London and has a permanent exhibition at her private gallery in Wales.

"My experience of rearing a tiny knot of baby black-and-white feathers turned me from a reasonably sensible, well-balanced human being into a worm-digging, bug-raking, obsessional magpie-mother, and compelled me to record the evolutionary process of my all-encompassing emotional attachment because I thought it unlikely to ever happen again," she said.

"What became the story of my relationship with George is going to be brought to life in the pages of a Profile publication, and I couldn’t be happier; I am hugely looking forward to working with Cecily Gayford and the rest of the Profile team on the project."

Gayford added: "I am completely delighted to be working with the multi-talented, brilliant Frieda Hughes on her memoir of raising – and falling in love with – a magpie. George is lyrical, immersive, funny and warm, a portrait of a charismatic little bird, but also of an unexpected and profound relationship. We couldn’t be more proud to be publishing it, and to welcome Frieda to the Profile list."