Podcast – Zachary Leader

On this month’s podcast, Zachary Leader discusses the Larkin-Amis friendship: “…deprivation and restriction powered a really violent, mocking satire. They made fun of all kinds of folly and vice, but did so with Juvenalian raillery and bite.”

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Professor Zachary Leader is Professor of English Literature at the University of Roehampton. He grew up in California but has lived in Britain for over forty years. He was educated at Northwestern University, Trinity College, Cambridge and Harvard and is the author of several books including Reading Blake’s Songs, Writer’s Block, Revision and Romantic Authorship.

In 2000 Harper Collins published his edited Letters of Kingsley Amis followed by a highly regarded biography of Amis before he turned his attention to Saul Bellow, with the second part of acclaimed two-volume biography published in 2019. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Professor Leader’s work on Amis is filled with insights into the lifelong friendship between Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin and this is what we’ll be discussing today.

References:
Kingsley Amis novels; Lucky Jim (1954), Take a Girl Like You (1960), The Anti-Death League (1966), The Alteration (1976), The Old Devils (1986)

Larkin poems: Church Going ( published 1954), Posterity (published 1976)
Kingsley Amis poem: Drinking Song (published in The New Statesman in 1978)
The Letters of Kingsley Amis, edited by Z. Leader, London: HarperCollins, 2000; New York: Talk/Miramax, 1208pp. (2001)
The Life of Kingsley Amis, Hardcover, New York: Random House, 1008 pp. (2006)
Presented by Lyn Lockwood and Julian Henry.
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
Audio production by Simon Galloway.

Podcast – Philip Pullen and Rachael Galletly

In our latest podcast Philip Pullen (Larkin researcher and chair of Larkin100) and Rachael Galletly (PLS Trustee) join us to discuss Larkin poems that are either about or are directly addressed to specific people in his life; Eva Larkin, Kingsley Amis and Winifred Arnott. We also find out about Larkin’s attitude to summer, his favourite poetic phrase, Kingsley Amis’s wilder moments, what book Rachael nicked from a library, and who made Philip Larkin ‘yowl’.

Mother, Summer, I, Heads in the Women’s Ward, Reference Back, Hospital Visits, Love Songs in Age, Letter to a Friend About Girls, The Old Fools, Livings, Lines on a Young Ladies Photograph Album, Deceptions, Born Yesterday, Wild Oats, A Study in Reading Habits, Home is So Sad, The Mower, Maiden Name, Afternoons, Show Saturday, An Arundel Tomb, Broadcast, Poem about Oxford, Talking in Bed.

Letters Home (ed. James Booth, Faber and Faber, 2018)

Inside Story by Martin Amis (Jonathan Cape, 2020)

The Letters of Kingsley Amis (ed. Zachary Leader, HarperCollins 2000)

The Complete Poems of Philip Larkin (ed. Archie Burnett, Faber and Faber 2012)

The Poet’s Plight by James Booth (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2005)

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Presented by Lyn Lockwood.

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

Audio production by Simon Galloway.

Podcast – Greg Morse (writer and railway historian)

The second of our two podcasts with a John Betjeman focus, our guest is writer and railway historian Greg Morse.  Topics include Betjeman and Larkin’s relationship with the media, twentieth century architecture and cultural history and, of course, lots of poetry, both Larkin and Betjeman.

Betj and Larkin

Access via this link

Larkin poems mentioned: Church Going, Whitsun Weddings, High Windows, This Be The Verse, Toads, Essential Beauty, Home is So Sad, High Windows

Betjeman poems mentioned: Executive, A Lincolnshire Church, Death In Leamington, Croydon, Devonshire St W1, Summoned by Bells

A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin (Faber and Faber, 1947)

The Real John Betjeman  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjQC0PdHit4, (Channel 4, 2000) Railways Forever ( 7min documentary released 1970https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg4wpL2f2RE )

Metroland (BBC, 1973)

Summoned by Bells (1976) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsDb-dgXnU4

Time with Betjeman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDlG7_2puao ) (BBC2, 1983)

Railways Forever! https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-railways-for-ever-1970-online

Monitor: A Poet in London (BBC, 1959) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p022kr11

London’s Historic Railway Stations (John Murray, 1972)

Monitor: Down Cemetery Road (BBC, 1964) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coe11pgoj8E)

Samuel West’s poetry readings ( https://soundcloud.com/user-115260978/sets/pandemic-poems-by-samuel-west)  Grayson Perry, Kingsley Amis, Evelyn Waugh, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath

Passport to Pimlico https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041737/ (1949, Ealing Studios)#

The Righteous Jazz by The Mechanicals Band The Righteous Jazz | The Mechanicals Band (bandcamp.com)

 Betjeman Reading the Victorians by Greg Morse (2012, Sussex Academic Press) John Betjeman : Greg Morse (author) : 9781845195342 : Blackwell’s

Betjeman by Greg Morse (2011, Shire Publications) John Betjeman (Shire Library) Greg Morse: Shire Publications (bloomsbury.com)

Podcast – Anne O’Neill and Julian Henry

Our latest podcast features Anne O’Neill and Julian Henry.

Anne and Julian are newer members of the Philip Larkin Society team and many people will have already been feeling the benefit of their fantastic work on the PL Instagram page. Julian is also a trustee and is now supporting the society committee and its planning and events work. Anne is based in County Kerry and Julian in Oxford. We got together to talk about Larkin in the media, Twitter, Instagram, radio and television and Anne and Julian talk about their route into Larkin, their favourite poems, cancel culture, Hull University, Beatrix Potter, Larkin’s legacy and much more.

For a full details and a link to the podcast click here.

 

COMING SOON….

Watch out for February’s Tiny In All That Air featuring Greg Morse. Greg is the writer of John Betjeman: Reading the Victorians (Sussex Academic Press) and John Betjeman (Shire Library) as well as a range of books about railway history. He joins Lyn to discuss Betjeman’s particular brand of Englishness and his life and poetry, as well as his many links to Philip Larkin. Available to stream or download for free from Apple Podcasts. Spotify, Anchor or wherever you get your podcasts on February 19th 2021.

 

‘New Generation Women Poets and the Larkin Legacy’ – Our first online event

On Saturday 5th December2020 the Philip Larkin Society held its first online event, ‘New Generation Women Poets and the Larkin Legacy’

The event, chaired expertly and engagingly by Dr John Osborne, one of the founders of PLS, featured three of the UK’s most exciting new poets – Rachael Allen, Rachel Long and Mary McCollum – all of whom have a connection with Hull,  and attracted a strong turn out of PLS members and other Larkin enthusiasts from across the world.

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In addition to reading a selection of their poems, the poets took part in a fascinating discussion of  topics ranging from the influence (or lack of influence) of Larkin and other Hull poets on their work, Hull as a place to write in, the nature of the writing process itself, and the place of structure in poetry.

Feedback on the event has been highly positive and we are delighted to have reached out to an international audience. We hope to expand further our digital presence as we move forward into the New Year and towards Larkin’s centenary in 2022. Watch this space!

Our new honorary vice-presidents

We are  proud and delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Eddie Dawes and Professor James Booth as Honorary Vice-Presidents and Honorary Life Members of The Philip Larkin Society.

Eddie, a close friend of Philip Larkin,  gave outstanding service  as Chairman of the Society for 25 years, since its inauguration in December 1995.

James has made an exceptional contribution to Larkin scholarship, including his excellent editorship of About Larkin. We are delighted that he will continue to be the Literary Adviser to the Society.

NEW GENERATION WOMEN POETS AND THE LARKIN LEGACY 5 DECEMBER, 2020

Sadly, the current pandemic has robbed us of the chance to get together in person this year for our customary December commemoration. However, we are delighted to be able to announce an exciting virtual alternative for the afternoon of Saturday 5th December commencing at 3.00 PM GMT.

John Osborne, a co-founder of The Philip Larkin Society, has written, lectured and broadcast extensively on Larkin, and will be chairing an online Zoom session involving three of the UK’s most exciting and highly acclaimed new poets all of whom have a strong connection with Hull. In addition to reading their work, the contributors, Rachael Allen, Mary McCollum and Rachel Long, will consider the extent to which Larkin and his contemporaries have relevance for the future development of their writing.

Click here for full details
We hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us for what will be an experimental ‘first’ for the Society and, hopefully, one which will attract a truly global audience. Register for the event via the link below, after which you will receive an email invitation to join the Zoom meeting.

Book your place here

‘Tiny in All That Air’ – a Betjeman Podcast

Our latest podcast is the first of two podcasts exploring one of Larkin’s major contemporaries, Sir John Betjeman, to coincide with the publication of Jonathan Smith’s book Being Betjeman(n) (Galileo Publishing)

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Lyn is joined by Jonathan as he discusses his long term love of Betjeman, beginning in the 1960s where he hid his copy of Summoned by Bells to avoid being sneered at by his ‘cooler’ friends at the time, to his creative responses to Betjeman in book and play form.

JS-Headshot

Lyn and Jonathan talk about the life of John Betjeman and his wider cultural significance, Betjeman’s many connections to Philip Larkin, and Jonathan’s own very personal relationship with Betjeman and actor Ben Whitrow, who played Betjeman in Jonathan’s plays. Jonathan reads the moving poem, ‘Devonshire St, W1’. They also discuss a range of other Betjeman poems such as ‘5 O’Clock Shadow’, ‘Death in Leamington’, ‘Varsity Student Rag’, ‘At Pershore Station’, ‘Summoned by Bells’ and various Larkin poems such as ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ and ‘Church Going’. Along the way, they bring in Evelyn Waugh, Andrew Motion, TS Eliot, Ezra Pound, Barry Humphries, Kenneth Williams and the Carry On team, Grayson Perry, the ‘English Eccentric’ and the Monitor documentaries.

Our next Betjeman themed podcast is planned to come out in Feburary 2021 and Lyn’s guest will be Greg Morse, who’s way into Betjeman is through a shared love of trains and English architecture. So dust off your teddy bears and tennis rackets and immerse yourself in the world of Betjeman!

Available on all major podcast streaming services such as Apple i-Tunes and Anchor.fm..

Stay Safe with a Larkin face mask

At PLS we want to do our bit to help people stay safe during these difficult and dangerous times while at the same time adding to the growing fashion trend in cool face coverings.

We’re very pleased to announce the release of the Larkin Face Mask – safe, secure, and very definitely unique!

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Order yours from our online shop.

‘Beyond The Secret Garden’

‘Now you’ll be wondering what I thought of The Secret Garden,’ ^Philip Larkin wrote to Monica Jones on 24th June 1953,’ Well I thought it astonishingly good. I can’t imagine how I’ve never come across it before {…] If it has any message, it’s surely that – well, I can’t put it into in a sentence, but it’s that life is strong and joyful enough to push up & overturn the strongest and heaviest morbid fancies and fears: it calls on everyone to put aside distrusts and shrinking-back, and live to the utmost while life is for the having.’ Letters to Monica p. 98

That this classic children’s story by Frances Hodgson Burnett should evoke in Larkin such a profound sense of exultant joy is surely enough to evoke further curiosity as to why this particular book should have had such an effect on him (in a later letter to Monica he links it to Lady Chatterley).

Ann Thwaite, wife of Anthony Thwaite, the Society’s President, and friend of Larkin’s, first wrote her biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett in 1974. This has now been rereleased in paperback ahead of a new film, starring Colin Firth and Julie Walters and directed by Marc Munden due to released in the UK in October 2020. As Ann says, ‘The film will look afresh at the book itself and Burnett’s extraordinary life.’Ann has also been commissioned to write an article in The New Statesman which will delve further into Larkin’s love of this book. Definitely not to be missed!

For a chance to win vintage copies of books written by Frances Hodgson Burnett from Ann’s extensive collection, members might like to try out her quiz.

Ann has also produced a list of discussion questions for bookclubs.

Beyond The Secret Garden is published by Duckworth

News and Developments

PLS continues to move on apace. We are proud to have celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Society with a very special commemorative edition of ‘About Larkin’ which beautifully captures the highlights and events of the past quarter century during which there have been so many. The edition, which is free to members and available to download by non-members for a cost of £12 is dedicated to Professor Eddie Dawes in recognition of his 25 year tenure as chairman of the society.

Membership of the Society is rising, which is extremely exciting news and bodes well as we begin to prepare for what we hope will be a major celebration of Philip Larkin’s centenary in 2022 under the banner of ‘Larkin100’.

At the recent AGM, held virtually via email, several new appointments to the trustees and changes to the officer posts were approved. Following the retirement of Eddie Dawes, Graham Chesters has been appointed as the Society’s Chair. Lyn Lockwood, who is also responsible for the PLS podcasts, takes over as Deputy Chair. In addition, we are pleased to welcome Rachel Welch as the Society’s new General Secretary and Julian Henry and Julian Wild as two further trustees. Kyra Piperides Jaques takes over as Editor of ‘About Larkin’ and we are very pleased to retain Professor James Booth’s services as the Society’s Literary Adviser.

The latest edition of our podcast, ‘Tiny in all That Air’ features the writer and 1595778392037blobbroadcaster, David Quantick. A few months ago, David tweeted about his enjoyment of Trouble At Willow Gables and other Brunette Coleman works by Philip Larkin. In this episode he joins us to talk about Brunette Coleman and in particular her essay What Are We Writing For? (1943), poem Femmes Damnes and the wider ‘schoolgirl’ writing of Philip Larkin.  The episode is receiving rave reviews and is a really excellent listen.

 

 

The Larkin Lockdown Quiz – questions and answers

Quiz results-
Thank you for all the interest and responses.
Our top three winners are:
Sally Button – 29
James Tarry-29
Alain Sinner-29
Brilliant work!  You are clearly not hare eyed clerks. Treat yourself to an awful pie and a G&T.
Please find the quiz sheet here  and a copy of the sheet with the answers here. Drop us a line (plseducation@philiplarkin.com) if you use it with your friends or book club or maybe it could be a fiendish teaching resource. Or if you have a Larkin related quiz that we could use then please send it to us and we will share it with the membership and subscribers. We’d love to hear from you.
Watch out for another quiz soon. Stay safe.
Best wishes from all of us at the Philip Larkin Society.

The Larkin Lockdown Quiz

The Lockdown Larkin Quiz- as the ‘poet laureate of social isolation’, who better to turn to at this time than Philip Larkin? But how well do you know your Larkin? Do you know your Monicas from your Ruths? Do you know your Brynmor Jones from your Wellingtons? Are you a toad or a sea anemone?

You can play for fun and keep your answers to yourself, or you can fill in the sheet and email it to us at plseducation@philiplarkin.com.

If you’d like exclusive early access just sign up to the newsletter on our home page (if you haven’t done so already).

What a splendid way to pass the time this weekend!

The PLS Newsletter

Our latest newsletter is a pandemic special, full of content that we hope will keep you amused while you wait it all out from the safe confines of your armchair. Rest assured that the ‘featured product’ and ‘on this day’ content will return when the world becomes a little more normal. Click here to read the newsletter in full.

Why not sign up to the mailing list on the home page to receive future newsletters direct to your email inbox.

 

 

 

Twitter

Larkin in Lockdown

In these days of extreme, house bound, social isolation Larkin aficionados will be pleased to know that a wealth of Larkin-related material is available online to help pass the time and keep the spirits up.

Here is a, by no means definitive, range of sources…. Enjoy!
YouTube

YouTube is, of course, packed with material relating to Philip Larkin, including poetry, read by him and lots of others, and discussions. Most of the Larkin documentaries can be easily found too, including the 1962 BBC Monitor programme, ‘Down Cemetery Road’ featuring Larkin in conversation with John Betjeman: ‘Love and Death in Hull’, which has an extended interview with Ruth Siverns, Larkin’s twice time fiancee, and the 1982 South Bank Show, in which Larkin famously refused to appear in a face to face interview but allowed himself to be filmed from over his shoulder while turning the pages of one of his poetry workbooks. ‘Through The Lens of Larkin’ and Return to Larkinland’ are other joys.

In terms of poetry reading, highlights include Dave Lee’s brlliant films featuring Sir Tom Courteney:

Here’

‘This Be The Verse’

Larkin and his mother were great fans of ‘The Archers’ so this reading of ‘Church Going’ by Tim Bentinck who plays David Archer, is an absolute gem.

Larkin25

The 2010 ‘Larkin 25’ Festival marked the 25th anniversary of Larkin’s death and generated a whole range of work inspired by Larkin’s own creativity in the areas of poetry, drama, film, dance, visual arts, song, photography, public sculpture and art. You can get a flavour of it by viewing the archived web pages.

Following on from ‘Larkin25’, ’Sounding The Larkin Trail’ formed part of the ’Toads Revisited’ Festival in Hull in 2015 and involved a musical trail from Spring Bank Cemetery to Paragon Station ending up in Ye Olde Black Boy. It was put together by Dave Gawthorpe, a Hull musician, and part of the Hillbilly Troupe.

BBC Sounds

There is a wealth of Larkin related material available via the BBC Sounds App. The following are highly recommended:

I Was Larkin’s Magician

Featuring our Chair, Eddie Dawes, founder of Hull University’s biochemistry department and a world renowned magician who performed tricks for his friend Philip Larkin.

Alan Bennett on his love of Philip Larkin

Featured in Radio ‘s ‘Today’ programme on National Poetry Day 2014

Free Thinking – Sound Frontiers: Books of 1946

This programme explores some of the key books published in 1946, including Back, by Henry Green, Jill by Philip Larkin and The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin, the pseudonym of Larkin’s great friend, Bruce Montgomery.

Prom Plus Literary – Philip Larkin

Recorded during the BBC Proms season in 2014, Andrew Motion and Kate Clanchy discuss Larkin’s writing, and the 50th anniversary of the publication of ‘The Whitsun Weddings’.

The New Elizabethans In a series of programmes marking the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, James Naughtie examined the lives and impact of the men and women who had given the second Elizabethan age its character. This episode focuses on Larkin.

Two fascinating programmes feature the poet Sean O’Brien. The first ‘I, By the Tide of Humber’ was recorded in the run up to Hull’s year as City of Culture in 2017 and reflects on the way in which the city’s water and landscapes have inspired poets like himself and Larkin. The second programme, ‘The Essay’ recorded during the BBC’s ‘Contains Strong Language’ Festival in Hull in 2018, features a comparison of the work of Larkin and Ted Hughes.

An episode of Alistair Cooke’s ‘Letters To America’ from 2003 has the presenter reflecting on Larkins life and, in particular, his attitude towards children.

The ‘Desert Island Discs’ archive is also well worth visiting, not only for Larkin’s own appearance in July 1976 but also that of his first biographer, Andrew Motion, in which he discusses his friendship with Larkin and includes Larkin reading ‘Here’ as one of his record choices. . Larkin’s great friend, Barbara Pym, appeared in July 1978 and  recalls how Larkin championed her when her books went out of fashion, leading to her being shortlised for the Booker Prize. Kingsley Amis appeared twice (which would not have pleased Larkin!) – initially in May 1961 (episode not available) and again in November 1986. He discusses meeting Larkin for the first time at Oxford, their shared love of jazz and the influence Larkin had on ‘Lucky Jim’ (though, typically, he doesn’t give his friend proper credit for this).

SoundCloud

SoundCloud also contains a vast repository of Larkinalia, including two recordings of the Larkin Society’s Guest Lectures:

Archie Burnett 2013 ‘Biography and Poetry: Philip Larkin’

Blake Morrison 2018 ‘Larkin and Freedom’

There is also a fascinating recording made of Larkin’s opening of the new Library at Leicester University in 1975 which reveals something of Larkins wonderfully self-deprecating humour:

‘Any librarian is bound to welcome a new library, and, if he should also be a spare time writer, he’s apt to feel like a director of Ladbookes on contemplating a new racecourse…’

Podcasts

Apart from our brilliant ‘Tiny in all that Air’ podcasts, there are several others featuring Larkin

Shedunnit

Caroline Crampton’s excellent podcast covering the mysteries of detective stories includes an episode featuring Larkin’s favourite crime writer, Gladys Mitchell (the title of this episode, ‘The Great Gladys’ was Larkin’s nickname for Mitchell). In the second section of the podcast, Crampton discusses Larkin’s high regard for Mitchell’s work and for crime fiction in general.

Backlisted

A literary podcast ‘giving life to old books’. Episode 74, recorded at the 2018 Port Eliot Festival focuses on a discussion of A Girl in Winter

Freedom, Books, Flowers & the Mood – the TLS podcast

The March 8 2018 edition  ‘Writers and their mothers’ centres on a conversation with Dale Salwak about his anthology, ‘Writers and Their Mothers’  which includes discussion of Philip Pullen’s essay ‘No Villainous Mother – The Life of Eva Larkin’.

 

 

 

The Philip Larkin Society Poetry Prize

Winners of the East Riding Poetry Prizes, organised as part of the East Riding Festival of Words 2019, were announced at a prize-giving ceremony at Bridlington Library on Saturday 25th January. The four judges, poets James Nash , Wendy Pratt and Matthew Hedley Stoppard, together with James Booth, Literary Adviser to The Philip Larkin Society, presided over 800 entries, a record number for the event. The quality of entries was such that the judges decided to award additional commendations and special mentions in addition to the main prizes.Commentating on his first experience of judging the competition, James Booth described it as ‘a tough but exhilarating exercise’ with so many good poems to decide between.

The Larkin Prize, sponsored by the Philip Larkin Society was awarded to Chris Sewart from Beverley.

Version 2

 

Chris’s poem, ‘Fencing Project – 1975’, will be published in the next edition of About Larkin together with all the other winning entries.

The full list of prize winners is as follows:

Primary School Prize

Winner: Milly Hall

Highly commended: Declan Prophet

Secondary School Prize

Winner: Luca Goaten

Highly commended: Django Bennett-Clarke

The Philip Larkin Society Prize

Winner: Chris Sewart

Second:  Abigail Flint

Third: Penny Boxall

Highly commended: Deborah Harvey, Susan Szekely, Shona Johnson

Special mentions: Lucy Crispin, Robert Raynor, Sarah James

All of the winning entries can be read by clicking here. They will also be published in the next edition of About Larkin

Belinda Hakes

The Philip Larkin Society is very sad to announce the death of one of its long-standing trustees, Belinda Hakes.

Belinda helped to edit the Society’s journal, About Larkin and during her time as Education Officer organised very successful Larkin Study Days for sixth formers. An exceptional teacher and great Larkin enthusiast. She will be hugely missed.

Please join us for a celebration of Belinda’s life at Chanterlands Crematorium HU5 4EF small chapel on Monday 13th January at 11am and afterwards at Cottingham Parks Golf Club, Wood Hill Way, HU16 5SW. Later she will be buried at Kelsey Woodland LN7 6EH where her grave will be marked by an oak tree and plaque. Visitors welcome. Bright colours. Rather than flowers, donations to Queens Centre, Castle Hill Hospital, Cottingham:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/belindahakes

‘We need to talk about Philip… new perspectives’ : Annual commemoration Sunday 1 December 2019

Our commemoration of Larkin’s death this year is entitled: ‘We need to talk about Philip… New Pespectives’ and will take place at The Royal Station Hotel in Ferensway, Hull.

2.00 Extraordinary General Meeting to approve a revised constitution for the Society.

3.00  ‘We need to talk about Philip… New Pespectives’: a presentation by Committee members on recent and future initiatives as PLS moves towards its 25th year, including, a possible electronic version of the journal, the launch of the PLS podcast, our Twitter profile; the future of the website and planning for the 2022 Centenary year. Members’ suggestions will be welcomed.

4.00 Refreshments

4.30 Questions

5.00 Close

This event will be free of charge, but please let Carole Collinson know if you plan to attend. Carole Collinson, 32 Queen’s Drive, Cottingham, East Yorkshire, HU16 4EL. chriscarole@hotmail.com

 

JUST RELEASED – ‘Tiny in all that air’ – podcasts from the PLS

We are pleased to announce that The Philip Larkin Society podcast, Tiny In All That Air has now gone live and you can now subscribe for free through the podcast app of your choice.

You can find the taster episode at open.spotify.com/show/5aCJxGGOL… and podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fee… or head over to anchor.fm/tinyinallthatair

The first 10 minute ‘taster’ episode featuring PLS trustee Kyra Piperides-Jacques was released in November paving the way for the official launch date of 2nd December 2019. This date was chosen as the anniversary of Larkin’s death and also to mark the 25th year of the PLS itself. The opening episode features chair Professor Eddie Dawes who tells us some of his funny and fascinating stories about his friendship with Larkin.

This is followed by the two podcasts featuring Professor James Booth with his insights into Larkin’s life, relationships and poetic development that have already been very warmly received by listeners and Twitter followers. The most recent release is a chat with Wes Finch of The Mechanicals who discusses his Coventry roots and his musical settings of Larkin’s poetry. Coming up, we have more James Booth plus discussions with poet Keiron Winn, PLS merchandise officer and teacher Rachael Galletly and PLS trustee and Larkin researcher Philip Pullen.

Thank you to everyone who has been in touch to say they are enjoying the podcast and have suggested guests. Broadcast data show we have an international audience from Ireland to Greece to Pakistan and the stats show we have had a good number of listeners already. You can follow the podcast on Twitter at TinyInAllThatAir@tiny_air and if you would like to take part we’d love to hear from you!

Please contact Lyn via the Twitter account or email lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk.

 

‘The Righteous Jazz’ – a new Larkin-inspired musical and theatrical production

The Philip Larkin Society is very pleased to be supporting The Mechanicals Band,  a group of Coventry based musicians and actors who are developing a project  exploring the life and work of the poet Philip Larkin through music and theatre.

Performances of ‘The Righteous Jazz’ will be taking place in Hull, at the Hull Truck Theatre, on Saturday 2nd November 2019 and in Coventry, at The Tin At The Coal Vaults on Thursday 14th November.

Not to be missed!