Episodes
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They might not meant to, but they do...
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is a lifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin's poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this final episode of the summer, Joe heads out with his daughter and reads This Be The Verse.
Please note this episode contains strong language.
Music: Feeling Drowsy by Henry Allen Junior and his Orchestra (1929)
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions, comments or suggestions.
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: The Horns of the Morning by the Mechanicals from their album The Righteous Jazz
Join Lyn Lockwood and Chris Sewart in Hull on 21st September for a Larkin inspired writing workshop
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/some-dappled-park-a-poetry-writing-workshop-inspired-by-philip-larkins-hull-tickets-940211757677?aff=oddtdtcreator
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Today on the 9th August we celebrate Philip Larkin’s birthday and we read High Windows from start to end, in order to mark the 50th anniversary of Larkin’s final collection. Philip Pullen and Graham Chesters chat to Lyn about High Windows.Please note there is some strong language and challenging themes in the collection. Poems and readers:To the Sea- Lyn Lockwood Deputy Chair of the Philip Larkin Society
Sympathy in White Major- Dale Salwak Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, professor English, magician
The Trees-Carole Collinson Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
Livings: I, II, III-Clarissa Hard Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
Forget What Did- Gavin Hogg member of the Philip Larkin Society, writer, podcast host
High Windows- Martin Jennings Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, sculptor
Friday Night in the Royal Station Hotel -Alan Johnson Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, writer, former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Old Fools-Andrew Motion Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, writer, former Poet Laureate.
Going, Going-Kate Romano BBC Radio 3 producer, musician, CEO Stapleford Granary
The Card-Players-David Quantick Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, novelist, screenwriter.
The Building-Ann Thwaite Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, biographer.
Posterity-RM Healey founder member of the Alliance of Literary Societies
Dublinesque-Graham Chesters Chair of the Philip Larkin Society
Homage to a Government-Trevor Norwood Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
This Be The Verse-Chris Sewart member of the Philip Larkin Society, prize winning poet based in East Yorkshire
How Distant-Cath Sked member of the Philip Larkin Society, former English teacher, arts enthusiast.
Sad Steps-Blake Morrison Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, poet and novelist.
Solar-Rosie Millard President of the Philip Larkin Society, journalist, writer and broadcaster
Annus Mirabilis-Stewart Lee Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, writer and comedian
Vers de Société-Rachael Galletly Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
Show Saturday-Philip Pullen Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
Money-Simon Galloway, audio producer, podcast host
Cut Grass-Devon Allison Chair of the Barbara Pym Society
The Explosion-Vicky Foster member of the Philip Larkin Society, writer, performer, poet and teacher based in Hull
Some references and further reading:
Eugene Boudin - 1824-1898- French landscape painter who focused on the outdoors and particularly harbours and beaches.
It Happened Like This by Vicky Foster (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024)
The Old Fools Animation directed by Ruth Lingford, narrated by Bob Geldof https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376020/
We Peaked At Paper by Gavin Hogg and Hamish Ironside (Boatwhistle Books, 2022) https://www.boatwhistle.com/store/item/hogg--ironside-we-peaked-at-paper/
The Guardian review of High Windows https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/06/philip-larkin-poetry-high-windows-archive-1974
The Giddy Carousel of Pop presented by Simon Galloway and Gavin Hogg https://giddypoppod.home.blog/
Stewart Lee tour dates and news https://www.stewartlee.co.uk/
Martin Jennings public sculptor, Royal Coin https://martinjennings.com/
The Alliance of Literary Societies https://allianceofliterarysocieties.wordpress.com/
The Barbara Pym Society https://barbara-pym.org/
Sleeping on Islands: A Life In Poetry by Andrew Motion (Faber and Faber, 2023)
Two Sisters by Blake Morrison (The Borough Press, 2023)
Upcoming events
Please join Lyn Lockwood and Chris Ewart in Hull on 21st September 2024:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/some-dappled-park-a-poetry-writing-workshop-inspired-by-philip-larkins-hull-tickets-940211757677?aff=oddtdtcreator
Larkin Weekend 13-15 September 2024 at Stapleford Granary
https://www.staplefordgranary.org.uk/whats-on/events/larkin-weekend
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Missing episodes?
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That Whitsun, I was late getting away:
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is a lifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin's poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode, Joe takes his seat on the 11.31 to London Waterloo and reads The Whitsun Weddings.
Music: Body and Soul by Coleman Hawkins and his Orchestra
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions, comments or suggestions.
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: The Horns of the Morning by the Mechanicals from their album The Righteous Jazz
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Cut grass lies frail...
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is a lifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin's poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode, Joe ventures out on his school field to read and discuss Cut Grass from High Windows.
Music: Sidney Bechet - Si tu vous ma mere (Lonesome)
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions, comments or suggestions.
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: The Horns of the Morning by the Mechanicals from their album The Righteous Jazz
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Our guest today is Douglas Bell, Professor of English Language Education at the School of Education, University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China.
Professor Douglas Bell first joined us in April to talk about the 2024 Conference in Hull and kindly stayed on the line to talk to me more widely about Philip Larkin in China. We talk about the reading and translation of Larkin in China, as well as the use of persona and thematic readings of Larkin. We also talk about why Larkin is not a sexist poet, Larkin’s use of rhyme, using Larkin’s poetry to exemplify language teaching, and how Doug found delivering a lecture to many of thousands of Chinese students on Philip Larkin last year. Doug reads Faith Healing and Morning at Last There in the Snow and I read Wires.
Please note there are a few glitches in the sound at the beginning but they do ease off.
13-15th September, Stapleford Granary Larkin Weekend, with jazz music, talks and a photography display. Some of the events are free, some need to be booked.
https://www.staplefordgranary.org.uk/whats-on/events/larkin-weekend
Writing workshop with former Tiny guest and award winning poet Chris Sewart and podcast host Lyn Lockwood in Hull on Saturday 21st September. We will be based at Artlink on Princes Avenue and taking a gentle stroll around the Avenues and Pearson Park before coming back to the gallery for an afternoon of writing.. There are only 12 places available so if you’re interested you might want to get booking!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/940211757677?aff=oddtdtcreator
Poems mentioned:
The Whitsun Weddings/Church Going/To The Sea/Love Songs in Age/A Study of Reading Habits/ Faith Healing/MCMXIV/Here/Show Saturday/Heads in The Women’s Room/This Be The Verse/Talking In Bed/ Wild Oats/Dockery and Son/Days/ Morning At Last there in the snow/Wires/Wedding Wind/ Breadfruit/ Poetry of Departures/ Self’s the Man/Aubade
Warning by Jenny Joseph
Further reading and references:
Bell, D.E. (2023) The Poetry of Philip Larkin. Universal Themes Viewed Through a Peculiarly English Lens. Public lecture for Ningbo library delivered on September 23, 2023. A recording can be accessed at:
https://wx.vzan.com/live/page/2071198589?shauid=YUBtX4II7J_Vc34CAnoK1A**&vprid=0&sharetstamp=1695458198118
John Betjeman interviewing Philip Larkin in a 1964 episode of Monitor, which was a flagship arts programme on British tv during the 1950s and 1960s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coe11pgoj8E
David Quantick's keynote address at the PLS conference, 'Something more fidgety and various... 50 years of High Windows' at the University of Hull, 14th March 2024.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPQUTk6hUck
The Translation and Criticism of Philip Larkin’s poems in China Wan Furong, Zhang Yan
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AboutLarkin-49.pdf
Letters to Monica by Philip Larkin ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 2011)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Thomas Hardy (1892)
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff ( 1873 –1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor.
Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano.
Music: One Hour by Mound City Blue BlowersProduced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
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'Once I am sure there's nothing going onI step inside, letting the door thud shut...'
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is alifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin’s poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode he explores Church Going from High Windows.
Music: Feeling Drowsy by Henry Allen Jr and His OrchestraProduced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions, comments or suggestions for more readings for the podcast.
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The MechanicalsBand. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
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Betty Mackereth was Philip Larkin’s secretary at the library at the University of Hull. They were work colleagues and good friends, growing closer and more intimate, as the years went on. Betty turns 100 on 27th June 2024.
We begin with Betty herself in conversation with James Booth when James was beginning his research into his biography of Philip Larkin . James calls her, Larkin’s ‘ageing muse of vitality’.
After this, we hear directly from James Booth who spoke Lyn and trustee Philip Pullen at James’s house earlier this year.
Thank you and special birthday wishes to Betty and thank you to Magnus Mackereth, Betty’s nephew, for giving us his blessing. Thanks again to James Booth and Philip Pullen and Simon Galloway for support with sound production.
Mary Judd -- See "'What fun we had in the early sixties!' Philip Larkin and Mary Wrench (Judd)" by James Booth, in About Larkin 45 (April 2018). Having appreciated The Less Deceived, Mary (b.1923) applied for a post as Assistant Librarian in Hull in 1956, wanting to see "what a poet is like". Larkin interviewed her himself, and flattered (and also intimidated) by her familiarity with his poetry, saw her off from Hull on the coach with the words "I hope you'll come". She fitted into the Library well, befriending Maeve Brennan and Betty Mackereth, took part in the momentous move of the library into its new building in 1959, and stayed until 1964. She married Stephen Judd and Larkin visited her in the hospital where she gave birth to her first daughter, Helen in 1962. Larkin became a conscientious long-distance godfather to Helen, and kept in touch with Mary, sending her cards and the occasional letter.
Suzanne Uniacke. (There is a village in County Cork called Uniacke. The Uniackes came over with the Conqueror. It's a rare name!) Suzanne was a Reader in the Philosophy Department in Hull from 2006 to 2013.
Pauline Dennison was a library colleague of Maeve Bennan. She cut a formidable figure in charge of the Issue Desk in the Brynmor Jones for many years.
Brenda Moon https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/31/brenda-moon-obituary
Don Lee Don was a trustee of the PLS for many years, and developed many Larkin walks in sites across the country that are still used today.
Ivor Maw Philip Pullen- My Friend Ivor Maw (About Larkin 42) https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-42.pdf
Poems mentioned:
Love Again, The Dance, I Am Jake Balakowsky, Morning at last there in the snow, When First We Faced, We Met at the end of the party, Aubade, Symphony in White Major, Oxford, Broadcast, Toads Revisited, The Large Cool Store
The Philip Larkin I Knew- Maeve Brennan (Manchester University Press, 2002)
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury, 2015)
Letters Home by Philip Larkin ed. James Booth (Faber, 2018)
The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkin’s Photographs by Richard Bradford (Francis Lincoln, 2015)
Philip Larkin Collected Poems ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 1988)
The Complete Poems of Philip Larkin ed. Archie Burnett (Faber, 2012)
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life by Andrew Motion (Faber, 1994)
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-35.pdf Early Days in Philip Larkin’s Library Betty Mackereth
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-25.pdf 'New Brooms' Philip Larkin Betty Mackereth
Philip Larkin and the Third Woman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRibIbHPAws
‘Former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion discovers an unseen and unpublished poem by Philip Larkin when he returns to Hull to meet one of the poet's former lovers. Speaking for the first time about her relationship with Larkin, Betty Mackereth reveals the man behind the famous poems.’
Cast: Andrew Motion
First episode date: 7 December 2010
Robbins report https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report
Music:
Laura - Sidney Bechet
Petit Fleur- Monty Sunshine
Reckless Blues- Bessie Smith
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The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is alifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin’s poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode he explores The Trees from High Windows
Music: In A Mellow Tone by Count Basie
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions, comments or suggestions for more readings for the podcast.
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The MechanicalsBand. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
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The mower stalled, twice...
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is alifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin’s poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode he explores Larkin’s late poem The Mower.
Music: Just a Mood (A Blue Mood) by the Teddy Wilson Quartet
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions, comments or suggestions for more readings for the podcast.
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The MechanicalsBand. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
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Writer Ann Thwaite has a long involvement with the society and with Philip Larkin himself. Ann married Anthony Thwaite when they were both young Oxford graduates. Anthony Thwaite brought Larkin’s poems to the BCC and many publications in his work as an editor. Anthony was Larkin’s executor alongside Andrew Motion, and went on to edit Larkin’s letters and poems. Anthony was the founding President of the Philip Larkin Society until he passed away in 2021 at the age of 90. Ann continues to be an active supporter of the society as one of our honorary vice presidents.
A new collection of Anthony’s poems is shortly to be published by Baylor University Press entitled At The Garden’s Dark Edge.
Kevin Gardner https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/12-april/features/interviews/interview-kevin-gardner-lecturer-anthologist
https://academic.oup.com/litthe/article-abstract/23/1/51/938106
Brotherton Library, University of Leeds
https://leedsunilibrary.wordpress.com/2021/04/28/anthony-thwaite-1932-2021/
Ann reads poems by Anthony Thwaite:
Sigma, Silence, Philip Larkin in New Orleans
Philip Larkin poem read by Ann:
The View- ‘Larkin sent the poem with a letter to Ann Thwaite dated 9 Feb 1980. The birthday was on 23 June 1980.’ (Burnett, p. 660)
Six Centuries of Verse written by Anthony Thwaite http://bufvc.ac.uk/shakespeare/index.php/title/19671
Broadcast on ITV in 1984 and compiled by writer and poet Anthony Thwaite, Six Centuries of Verse was the first television series to provide a systematic and chronological overview of the art.
The Japan Foundation https://www.jpf.org.uk/
The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/larkin-at-100/2022/07/ann-thwaite-philip-larkin-centenary
British Library audio archives https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/a/A13531725
Enitharmon Books (Anthony’s UK publishers) https://www.enitharmon.co.uk/product/a-move-in-the-weather-anthony-thwaite/
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury, 2015)
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life by Andrew Motion (Faber, 1994)
The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse ed. Philip Larkin (Oxford University Press, 1973)
Philip Larkin Collected Poems ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 1988)
Philip Larkin Selected Letters ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber and Faber, 1993)
Philip Larkin: Letters to Monica ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber and Faber, 2011)
Colin Dextor’s references to Larkin in Inspector Morse https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2016/jan/26/severed-limbs-intertextuality-guide-endeavour-hidden-secrets
Grayson Perry in Hull (2017) https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-44.pdf
Unveiling the Plaque at Kings Cross (2014)
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-38.pdf
Elizabeth Jennings https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/stock/collected-poems-elizabeth-jennings-elizabeth-jennings
Larkin at Sixty ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 1982)
Larkin at Sixty (review) https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v04/n20/barbara-everett/larkin-and-us
Poems for Anthony Thwaite, a manuscript volume of signed holograph poems collected from notable poets https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/12550
A A Milne: His Life by Ann Thwaite (Faber, 1991)
Please see the PLS X account @PLSoc for pictures of the interview with Ann Thwaite
Music clips:
Spain by Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats
The Blues Jumped a Rabbit by Jimmy Noone
Reckless Blues by Bessie Smith
Petit Fleur by Sidney Bechet, played Monty Sunshine
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Emily Tennyson: The Poet's Wife by Ann Thwaite (Faber, 1997)Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz -
This episode is all about the 2 PLS conference events that took place on 13-15th March 2024 at the University of Hull.
Professor Douglas Bell, now back home in the city of Ningbo in China, reflects on visiting Hull City centre and Cottingham for the first time in over 30 years, having graduated from the University of Hull in 1991. Rachael Galletly, PLS Trustee and merchandise officer talks about speakers David Quantick, Blake Morrison, our actors Daniel Wain and Lynne Harrison, and the contribution made by our wonderful artist D J Roberts. Helen Cooper reflects on her research into larkin, Lucian Freud and cancel culture, as well as the allure of Larkin bookends and Lucy Keating gives us her view of Larkin as someone who has also worked for many years in academic libraries as well as being a fan of classic English pop. We end with Professor Graham Chesters, our chair, and his thoughts about not just the main conference but also the schools and colleges post-16 education day that we also held that week, with an amazing story about a very special pair of letters, one written to Larkin and one written by Larkin in response.
Professor Douglas Bell is Professor of Education at the School of Education & English, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo China
Bell, D.E. (2024) ‘One of those old-type natural fouled up guys’: A Comparative Investigation of Larkin’s poetic persona and voice in ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ and ‘High Windows’.
A recording can be accessed at: Professor Douglas Bell - 'One of those old-type natural fouled up guys.' - YouTube
Rachael Galletly has been a trustee of the Philip Larkin Society since 2015 and works for a national educational charity.
Helen Cooper was one of the first thirty girls to join King Henry VIII School in Coventry in 1975. It was when she returned to the School as the Librarian in 2014 that she began to develop her interest in Philip Larkin. The first Larkin event she organised at the School was a Symposium to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death in 2015 and her last, shortly before she left the School and moved to live in London, was the PLS AGM during Larkin’s centenary in 2022.
Lucy Keating is originally from Birmingham, where she first encountered Philip Larkin's poetry at school in the 1980s. She spent her career working mainly in academic libraries and related projects, and now lives in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Professor Graham Chesters is the chair of the PLS and taught at the University of Hull from 1972 to 2007.
Our next event is the society AGM which takes place in Oxford on Saturday June 8th 2024, 11.30am at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The event is free to all members.
The PLS events group is planning lots more for later in the year so if you want to keep informed then please sign up to the mailing list at our website or, of course, become a member.
Music: Knockin A Jug, On the Sunny Side of the Street from Larkin’s Jazz Disc 1 (I Remember, I Remember), Petit Fleur (Sidney Bechet) played by Monty Sunshine
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz -
Today we are joined by our society President, Rosie Millard. Rosie came to Hull as an undergraduate while Larkin was still librarian at the university and she has maintained close links with Hull ever since. She was made Chair of Hull City of Culture 2017 and appointed OBE in the 2018 New Year Honours List for services in the arts to the city of Hull. Rosie is a writer, broadcaster and arts journalist and is also the chair of BBC Children In Need. In today’s podcast, Rosie and I discuss Solar, Money, Cut Grass and How Distant from High Windows to discuss as part of our preparations for the Philip Larkin Society Conference that is taking place in Hull March 14-15th 2024. Rosie starts us off by reflecting on her first 18 months as our president.
With best wishes to Thomas Gordon and in memory of Andrew Eastwood.
Philip Larkin poems referenced and discussed:
This be The Verse, Annus Mirabilis, Going Going, How Distant, Here, The Whitsun Weddings, High Windows, The Old Fools, Absences, Cut Grass, The Mower, The Trees, Aubade, The Old Fools, The Explosion, At Grass, An Arundel Tomb, Solar, Sad Steps, Money
Out of Reach: The Poetry of Philip Larkin by Andrew Swarbrick (St Martin’s Press, 1997)
Poets In Their Time: Essays on English Poetry from Donne to Larkin by Barbara Everett (Clarendon Paperbacks, 1997)
Experience by Martin Amis (Jonathan Cape, 2000)
‘She’s Leaving Home,’ by The Beatles from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone, 1967)
Music: Shoe Shine Boy, Just a Mood, Tiger Rag from Larkin’s Jazz Disc 1 (I Remember, I Remember), Petit Fleur (Sidney Bechet) played by Monty Sunshine
PLS Conference 2024 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/philip-larkin-society-conference-2024-tickets-769584597247
‘They may not mean to’ tote bag available here (thank you to Grayson Perry for the idea) and Tiny In All That Air pencils https://philiplarkin.com/shop/
New Eyes Each Year Exhibition 2017
https://philiplarkin.com/new-eyes-each-year/#:~:text=Larkin%3A%20New%20Eyes%20Each%20Year%20invites%20questions%20from%20the%20visitor,seen%20letters%2C%20photographs%20and%20doodles.
https://substack.com/@rosiemillard
The Haworth pub (once frequented by Philip Larkin and writers of Hull’s Bete Noir literary journal edited by Jean Hartley, such as Alan Plater)
https://www.greatukpubs.co.uk/haworth-hull/food-and-drink
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz -
Zachary Leader is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Roehampton. He grew up in California but has lived in Britain for over fifty years and has dual US/UK citizenship. He was educated at Northwestern University, Trinity College, Cambridge, and Harvard and is the biographer of Kingsley Amis and edited the Letters of Kingsley Amis. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and General Editor of The Oxford History of Life-Writing, a 7-volume series published by OUP.
PLS Trustee Daniel Vince is a soon-to-be graduate of the University of York, where he earned his MA by Research on the post-war working class novel. He has recently started work on his PhD entitled ‘The New University in Post-War British Literature’, in which Larkin and the University of Hull play a significant role – other writers include Malcolm Bradbury, David Lodge and Kingsley Amis. A trustee of The Philip Larkin Society, our e-newsletter editor and a member of our events committee,.
Today’s conversation focuses on John Wain’s Hurry On Down (1953) and Philip Larkin’s Jill (1946).
Notes and further reading and event links
The Life of Saul Bellow by Zachary Leader (Cape, 2015)
The Oxford Handbook of Percy Bysshe Shelley (Oxford Handbooks)
by Michael O'Neill (Editor) (Oxford Handbooks, 2017)
The Life of Kingsley Amis by Zachary Leader (Vintage, 2007)
The Letters of Kingsley Amis by Zachary Leader (Editor), (Harper Collins, 2001)
Cultural Nationalism and Modern Manuscripts: Kingsley Amis, Saul Bellow, Franz Kafka
Zachary Leader
https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/cultural-nationalism-and-modern-manuscripts-kingsley-amis-saul-be 2013
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh (1928)
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (1954)
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (1881)
Jill by Philip Larkin (1946)
Hurry on Down by John Wain (1953)
Changing Places by David Lodge (1975)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1937)
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951)
The Movement: English Poetry and Fiction of the 1950's by Blake Morrison (1980)
The Movement Reconsidered: Essays on Larkin, Amis, Gunn, Davie and Their Contemporaries by Zachary Leader (OUP, 2011)
The Importance of Philip Larkin by John Wain, The American Scholar, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Summer 1986), pp. 349-364
Interviews with Britain's Angry Young Men: Kingsley Amis, John Braine, Bill Hopkins, John Wain and Colin Wilson: 2 (Milford Series) by Dale Salwak (Borgo Press, 2007)
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (2015, Bloomsbury)
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life by Andrew Motion (Faber, 1994)
Philip Larkin Selected Letters ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber and Faber, 1993)
Out of Reach: The Poetry of Philip Larkin by Andrew Swarbrick (1997)
Larkin poems mentioned:
Livings, The Importance of Elsewhere, The Whitsun Weddings, High Windows, Absences, If, My Darling, This Be The Verse
Other references:
The Sun (British tabloid newspaper, founded 1964), John Braine (English novelist 1922-1986), Ben Johnson (English playwright- 1597-1637), Franz Kafka (Czech novelist, 1883- 1924)
Book tickets for Chichester event here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/philip-larkin-society-members-event-at-chichester-cathedral-tickets-781230199557?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Register for schools event here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/higher-windows-post-16-english-enrichment-day-at-the-university-of-hull-tickets-737140074807?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Register for Conference 2024 here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/philip-larkin-society-conference-2024-tickets-769584597247?aff=oddtdtcreator
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The Philip Larkin Society always mark the 2nd ofDecember which is the anniversary of Philip Larkin’s death in 1985. In 2022 we marked the date with the unveiling of a blue plaque in Coventry at Larkin’s birthplace and we held an evening event at Westminster Abbey with poetry readings at the site of his plaque in Poet’s Corner. It felt right to do something a little more informal and closer to home in Hull. This episode is a live recording of the quiz in the Haworth Pub, Hull.
Thank you to Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society Alan Johnson for being such super quiz master and for our esteemed President Rosie Millard for making the journey up to Hull just for this event.
The whole quiz and the answers are featured, so you can play along!
The quiz questions and answers can also be found on the PLS website.
Venue- The Haworth Pub, 449 Beverley Road, Hull, HU6 7LD
On site recording and first edit by Philip Pullen
Music: Zat You, Santa Claus? by Louis Armstrong and The Commanders ( November 1953)
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
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In this episode we talk to Beverley based poet Chris Sewart in his second appearance on Tiny in All That Air, and Phil Pullen, trustee of the PLS, who regular listeners will be familiar with from a number of previous episodes. We talk about Chris's poetry and his upcoming performance as the 'warm up' for Roger McGough in Beverley next year (details below). We also discuss Phil's new project for the PLS You-Tube account documenting the Larkin Trail. We end the episode considering three poems from High Windows- The Explosion, Livings and Forget What Did- as we look ahead to the 50th anniversary of the publication of High Windows in 2024 and the PLS Conference in March at the University of Hull.
Larkin poems mentioned:
Annus Mirabilis, Livings, Forget What Did, The Explosion, ToThe Sea, Going Going, The Building, Aubade, The Old Fools, The Trees, Solar,Cut Grass, Friday Night at the Royal Station Hotel, How Distant, I Remember, I Remember, MCMXIV, At Grass, Mr Bleaney, Absences, Broadcast, Dublinesque, ShowSaturday, Here
The Less Deceived (Faber, 1955) The Whitsun Weddings (Faber1964), High Windows (Faber, 1974)
Chris Sewart reads his poems A Boy and CartoonKiss.
Home Is So Sad Beverley Art Gallery April 2023 : ‘Home is so Sad’, showcased newly commissioned artwork, alongside pieces from the permanent collections of East Riding Museums and the Philip Larkin Society featured the paintings and installations of Seoul-based artists Yeonkyoung Lee and Sam Robinson.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr-IcSIS4mY
A Joyous Shot
https://www.visiteastyorkshire.co.uk/event/philip-larkin-%E2%80%93-a-joyous-shot/191184101/
Details of the PLS Conference and other events can be found here:
https://philiplarkin.com/uncategorized/forthcoming-events/
The link for Chris’s poetry workshop and appearance withRoger McGough at the Stage4Beverley festival is https://stage4beverley.com/
Today I Cycled toBeverley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QYMXXnJ_e8
Lyn Talking about Sylvia Plath: Horror Poet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVoi999Eywk
The Beatles- Please, Please Me (1963, Parlophone) SgtPepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band (Parlophone, 1967), The White Album (1968,Apple)
Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse Book ed.Philip Larkin (OUP, 1973)
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (2015,Bloomsbury)
Somewhere becoming Rain: Collected Writings on Philip Larkin(Picador, 2019)
The Philip Larkin I Knew by Maeve Brennan (MUP, 2002)
Philip Larkin, The Marvell Press and Me by Jean Hartley(Faber and Faber, 2012)
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life by Andrew Motion (Faber,1994)
Letters to Monica by Philip Larkin ed. Anthony Thwaite.(Faber and Faber, 2011)
Philip Larkin Selected Letters ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faberand Faber, 1993)
Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-1982 by PhilipLarkin (Faber and Faber, 1983)
Philip Larkin: The Man and His Work ed. Dale Salwak(Palgrave, 1983)
Philip Larkin, Monitor, Down Cemetery Road https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coe11pgoj8E
Authors mentioned by Chris
Kit de Waal | Kit de Waal
Summerwater by Sarah Moss review – a dark holiday in Scotland |Fiction | The Guardian
The Mersey Sound: Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and BrianPatten (Penguin, first published 1967, since reprinted many times!)
Jonathan Edwards – The Poetry Society: Poems
Rachel Long (rachel-long.com)
'Instead of a card' poetry pamphlets – UK based independent publisher(candlestickpress.co.uk)
The Catch by Simon Armitage https://www.poeticous.com/simon-armitage/the-catch-forget
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
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This episode was researched and planned by PLS Trustees Julian Henry and Dr Chris Fletcher, Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Philip Larkin was a librarian for 42 years. He had no formal training when he set off; he chose the career on the spur of the moment as a 21 year old after leaving university, like many students, without a career in mind. However, he came to be one of the UK's most influential and ground-breaking librarians of the post-war years, and his influence is still felt today. In this episode we examine Larkin's life as a librarian and how in interwove with his writing, friendships and relationships.
Larkin poems discussed:
An Arundel Tomb
The Card Players
Long Lion Days
Lines on a Young Lady's Photograph Album
Wedding Wind
The Mower
At Grass
Toads/ Toads Revisited
Other references:
My Particular Talents by Richard Goodman, About Larkin, 4 October 1997.Huddled Tea Breaks in the Cupboard by Pamela Hanley, About Larkin, 4 October 1997.https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-04.pdf
Agony in the Garden The Independent on Sunday, Dr Christopher Fletcher, 31/10/2004
A Neglected Responsibility by Philip Larkin from Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-1982 (Faber, 1986)
Letters to Monica by Philip Larkin ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 2010)
Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life by Andrew Motion (Faber, 1993)
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
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This talk was given to the Philip Larkin Society in 2010 by Emeritus Reader of American History at the University of Hull, John White. John White is the PLS jazz consultant and along with Trevor Tolley, compiled the wonderful ‘Larkin’s Jazz’ 4 disc CD released on Proper Records. This was part of the Larkin25 commemorative events. The talk is a warm and witty exploration of Larkin’s -sometimes extremely dry- sense of humour taking in camels, Jack Nicholson, raccoon coats and wine that tastes ‘like cricket bats.’
Content warning- liberal use of swearing…
References:
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life by Andrew Motion (Faber 1993)
Pretending to Be Me- Tom Courtney (Hachette Audio Book 2003)
The Philip Larkin I Knew- Maeve Brennan (Manchester University Press, 2002)
Selected Letters of Philip Larkin 1940-1985 (ed. Anthony Thwaite, Faber 1992)
Philip Larkin: A Bibliography, 1933-1994- B Bloomfield
All What Jazz: A Record Diary 1961 - 1971 (Faber) Philip Larkin
Poems referenced:
Church Going, Wild Oats, This Be The Verse, Vers de Societe,
Self’s The Man read by Philip Larkin can be heard at the end of the talk.
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
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Philip Larkin was just five years old when Hardy died in 1928, but this English poet and novelist was going to have a profound influence on Larkin’s writing.
To discuss some of the connections between Larkin and Hardy, Lyn is joined by Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Hull Jane Thomas and composer Arthur Keegan.
Thomas Hardy Novels: Jude the Obscure, Far From the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure, A Pair of Blue Eyes,
Thomas Hardy Collections: The Dynasts, Winter Words, Poems 1912-13
Thomas Hardy poems: Drummer Hodge, Neutral Tones, Afterwards, Lying Awake, A Circular
Philip Larkin poems: No Road, The Mower, Aubade, Skin
Other references: DH Lawrence, Sappho, Darwin, JS Mill, WB Yeats, Dylan Thomas, Gustav Holst, Gerald Finzie, Ivor Gurney, Nicholas Moore (composer), Benjamin Britten, Imogen Holst, Robin Milford, Henry Handel Richardson,
Early Larkin by James Underwood (Bloomsbury 2021)
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury 2015)
The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse ed Philip Larkin (Oxford 1973)
Required Writing- Miscellaneous Pieces by Philip Larkin (1955-1982) Faber 1983 (‘Wanted, a good Hardy critic’)
Astonishing the Brickwork by James L. Orwin (Dancing Sisters, 2022)
https://philiplarkin.com/product/astonishing-the-brickwork-philip-larkin-set-to-music-jim-orwin/
Peaches by The Stranglers (1977)/ Budmouth Dears by Thomas Hardy (first published in The Dynasts, 1908),
Elegies for Emma/Elegies for Tom https://www.arthurkeegan.co.uk/
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at [email protected].uk with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz -
This talk was given to the PLS in 2001 by Winifred Dawson. Winifred was born in London, but educated in Belfast which is where she met Larkin when they were both working at Queen’s University Library. Win also went on to write herself and published a biography of Amy Audrey Locke, a muse for the poet WB Yeats. Win opens with a reflection on Larkin’s love for his parents, However, the talk is mainly about Larkin’s relationship with the women in his life: Ruth Bowman, Winifred, Monica Jones, Patsy Strang, Maeve Brennan (who is listening in the audience) and Betty Mackereth. Ruth, Maeve and Win went on to form a friendship, having first met at Ruth's house in 1993, 8 years after Larkin died. Maeve Brennan can be heard very briefly at the end of the talk.The talk is full of humour, and a frank account of her feelings about Larkin, as well as readings of Larkin’s poetry and letters. The poetry readings were not recorded at the time of the talk, and so are instead read by members of the current Philip Larkin Society committee. We have also added the 1975 poem ‘When first we faced’ after Toads Revisited as a second poem about Betty Mackereth.Books and writers mentioned:
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life by Andrew Motion(1993)
Philip Larkin Selected Letters ed. Anthony Thwaite (1993)
Playing the Harlot- Patsy Avis (published by Virago in 1996)
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (1954)
Peter Ackroyd, Katherine Mansfield, Flann O’Brien’s At Swim-Two- Birds (1939), The Real Charlotte by Somerville and Ross (1894), John Betjeman, Scenes from Provincial Life by William Cooper (1950) , DH Lawrence,
The Porter’s Daughter: The Life of Amy Audrey Locke by Winifred Dawson (Sarsen Press, 2014)
Larkin’s review of The Girls by Henry de Montherlant (1959) can be found in Required Writing (1983)
Poems mentioned- poems which are read in the episode are in bold:
Days, Faith Healing, An April Sunday Brings the Snow , Reference Back, Mother, Summer, I Wild Oats, No Road, Within the dream you said, Show Saturday, Talking in Bed, Poem About Oxford, Latest Face, Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album, At thirty-one, when some are rich He hears his beloved, Long roots, Maiden Name, Broadcast, Morning at last, Toads Revisited, When First We Faced, To My Wife, Counting, An Arundel Tomb
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/28/winifred-dawson Ann Thwaite’s obituary of Win Dawson
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-01.pdf First issue of About Larkin
Further reading:
Philip Larkin, Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury, 2014)
Thank you to Jim Orwin for the original recording and sleeve notes. Thank you to Graham Chesters, Simon Smith, Daniel Vince, Phil Pullen, Clarissa Hard, Rachael Galletly, Alex Davis, Gavin Hogg and Julian wild for reading the poems.
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
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This episode features a writer who would be familiar not only to Hull residents but also to keen telly watchers, radio listeners and theatre goers across the country. Alan Plater was born in Jarrow in 1935 but having moved to Hull when he was just three years old, the city was pleased to adopt him and he lived there for much of his life. His most famous writing credit was probably Z Cars. Alan Plater was also a huge fan of jazz music and his ITV comedy drama The Beiderbecke Affair staring James Bolam and Barbara Flynn in the mid 1980s was a massive success. He went on to win countless awards and accolades for his wonderful writing.
Alan Plater was enormously generous with his time, and madea huge contribution to the Hull arts scene of the 1960s and 70s, developing agentle friendship with Philip Larkin along the way. This speech was recorded on28th November 1998, and wasgiven at that year’s PLS AGM.
Thank you so much to Alexandra Cann who is the agent for theAlan Plater Literary Estate Ltd for giving us the initial approval to use thisrecording, and to Steve Plater and John Rubinstein who are the joint Directorsof the Lit Estate.
If you are interested in seeing an Alan Plater play thissummer, then the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough is putting on aproduction of the Blonde Bombshells of 1943 which is full of swing and jazz, from 2-26thAugust 2023.
https://sjt.uk.com/events/blonde-bombshells-of-1943
References:
Alfred Bradley https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/about/successes/alfred-bradley-award/
· The Occasional Smell of Fish (poem)
· Waiting for Gladys (Becket parody)
· Bete Noire (Hull poetry journal)
· Z Cars One Day In Spring Street
· Jazz Notes- BBC radio programme
· On Sunday January 4th I had MildConstipation
· Names (poem written for Three Trawlersfundraising) ‘my only grown up poem’
· Swallows on the Water (play)
· The Fosdyke Saga sonnet ( BBC radio tripe themed-parody of The Forsyth Saga,)- sent a copy to Larkin who responded with asigned copy of the High Windows calling him ‘sonnetteer extraordinaire’
· Sweet Sorrow (1990) Plater’s play about Larkin
Matthew Arnold, Ogden Nash, Dylan Thomas, Alan Bleasdale,Ted Hughes, Barry Hines, Vera Wise, Henry Livings, Alex Glasgow, Carla Lane,Adrian Mitchell, Allan Ginsburg, Carole Mills (rude songs and low down blues),Robin Kay (flamenco guitarist), Max Boylett (jazz pianist), Ian Clarke andChris Rowe, Sid and Norm (artists without category), Joe Orton, The Beatles,John Ford (director of westerns), Roger McGough, Jimmy James (music hallperformer),Ken Wagstaff- (footballing hero), Fleur Adcock, Jeff Nuttall (had apee in a bucket on stage), Roni Scott, Suzi Quatro, Mike Bradwell (theatredirector), Jess Stacy (jazz pianist), Shakespeare, Max Wall, Peter Brooke(director), and many more Hull poetslisted by Plater.
Pubs mentioned – (in Leeds and Hull) The Bluebell, The Bull,The Fenton, the Hayworth Arms,
Philip Larkin judging poetry competition for the Hull ArtsCentre at Spring Street in 1970 which eventually became Hull Truck Theatre.
The loss of the three Hull trawlers in winter of 1967, 59trawlerman died- the poets organised a reading and Plater wrote ‘Names’.
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: The Philip Larkin Society – Philip Larkin
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
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