 The move to Wales in 1965 was important for Hooker's development both as poet and as critic, and during the 1970s he established himself as an important critic of Welsh writing in English (Anglo-Welsh literature) and was involved with teaching a course in Welsh writing in English, which had been created by Ned Thomas at Aberytwyth.But the tension of being a "foreigner" in Wales led Hooker selling the house in Llangwyryfon, in 1980