Although some critics regard Hugo as primarily a regionalist, his work resonates broadly across place and time.

Born in the White Center area of Seattle, Washington on December 21, 1923, he was raised by his mother's parents after his father left the family.

His posthumous book of collected poetry, Making Certain It Goes On, evinces that his poems are marked by crisp, gorgeous images of nature that often stand in contrast to his own depression, loneliness, and alcoholism.

Although almost always written in free verse, his poems have a strong sense of rhythm that often echoes iambic meters.

Hugo's The Real West Marginal Way is a collection of essays, generally autobiographical in nature, that detail his childhood, his military service, his poetics, and his teaching.