Peter Hughes was born in Oxford in 1956. After doing a degree in English Literature, and then a Masters in Modern Poetry in English, he worked in Italy for several years. He lived for various periods in L'Aquila, Vicenza and Rome. He returned to the UK when his children were young and he taught in Cambridge primary schools for fifteen years. There followed extended periods in Norfolk and North Wales. He is currently based in Spello, Umbria. He has created distinctive versions of various classic Italian texts, including work by Petrarch, Cavalcanti and Leopardi. He has also been the Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellow at Cambridge University.