On Saturday 1st December 2018 the distinguished poet and writer, Blake Morrison, will be giving a talk entitled ‘The Deep Blue Air: Larkin and the Idea of Freedom’, at The Royal Hotel, Ferensway, Hull commencing at 2.00 PM. This event is open to non-members. Tickets cost £10 per person.

The talk will be followed by pre-Christmas wine and mince pies.

Blake Morrison has published widely: academic works, poetry, drama and novels. When Did You Last See Your Father  won the J.R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. Blake gave the Address in Westminster Abbey in December 2016 at the Dedication Ceremony for the memorial to Philip Larkin in Poets’ Corner.

To purchase tickets online click here.

Alternatively, please  contact Carole Collinson – Tel 01482 847047; Email chriscarole@hotmail.com or send a cheque made out to The Philip Larkin Society to 32 Queen’s Drive, Cottingham, East Yorkshire HU16 4EL

 

 

 

 

The Hull launch of Letters Home 1936-1977, James Booth’s edited edition of the Larkin family letters, will take place in The Observatory, Brynmor Jones Library, The University of Hull, at 6.30 pm on Monday 19th November 2018.

James will be ‘in conversation’ with Anthony and Ann Thwaite who were  close friends of Philip Larkin. Anthony is the Society’s President and edited the first edition of Philip Larkin’s letters in 1992 and Letters to Monica in 2010

The event will be hosted by Faber and Faber and the Librarian.

Wine and refreshments will be served.

Members of the Society who wish to attend should contact Carole Collinson – Tel 01482 847047, Email chriscarole@hotmail.com

 

The latest issue of About Larkin, the Society’s journal, has now been published. Members of the Society receive two issues of the journal each year as part of their membership.

Non-members can purchase a copy at a price of £8.00 per issue for the current year’s publications or £3.00 per issue for previous years.

A copy of the contents page can be found here – About Larkin 46 Contents Page

To read the editorial please click here – About Larkin 46 Editorial Page

The April 2018 edition of ‘About Larkin’ has now been published and constitutes a bumper edition of Lrkin-related items. It includes the previously unpublished correspondence which Philip Larkin wrote to Mary Wrench (later Judd), a member of the library  staff at the University of Hull. As James Booth states in his editorial, their relationship “was one of affection and respect rather than romance.”

Coverage of Society events include the walk conducted by Philip Pullen as part of the 2017 Beverley Walking Festival and the Jazz Evening held on 2nd December 2017. There are reviews of Writers and their mothers, edited by Dale Salwak which includes an essay on Larkin’s mother, Eva, and of Jonathan Tulloch’s Larkinland. There are also original poems by Audrey Dunne, Andrew Thomas, David Green and Layton Ring.

The issue also includes a fascinating piece by James Booth based on Alec Gill’s acclaimed photographic exhibition, ‘The Hessle Roaders’ which depicts Hull in the 1960s and 70s in ways that Larkin would have recognised and appreciated.

‘About Larkin’ is free to members of the Philip Larkin Society.

 

 

The Philip Larkin Society is pleased to announce that it has sponsored a new pew in Hull Minster in support of the Church’s £4.5 m regeneration project involving a major restoration and remodeling of the interior of the building.

 

Holy Trinity Church in the centre of Hull, was designated as a Minster in May 2017 in acknowledgement of the growth of its ministry and  the significance of  its spiritual and civic roles within the City.

Members of the Society and their family and friends are invited to a special dedication service to be held at the Minster on Sunday 8th April at 3.00 pm. Those wishing to attend are asked to contact Jonny Bottomley, the Fundraising and Marketing Manager at Hull Minster ( jonny@hullminster.org ) in order to help plan the required level of refreshments.

 

 

 

First of all, thank you to all who bought the Larkin Christmas cards- they sold like hot cakes (to use a cliché) – it was fantastic to see them flying off to our supporters and PLS members all around the world and popping up on tweets all through December. We are planning to produce two new Christmas cards for 2018 in the light of the success of the cards from this year.

Our original Larkin t-shirts have sold so well over the last year that we saw the last one disappear just before Christmas and we decided it was time for a fresh look. As we know, Larkin loved bright colours in his stationery and clothing and we thought we would reflect that in the colours for the new t-shirts, with Raspberry and Winter Emerald. We have simplified the design and introduced a ladies shape as well as the traditional men’s tees- now in two sizes- and they were printed by the excellent Hull company D3 who made our original t-shirts. We have also added a lovely timeline poster and some new cards. Any profits from our sales goes back into the promotion of Larkin’s work and life. Look out for more items later in the year!

Lyn and Rachael