Cover picture – birthday card from Eva Larkin to Philip Larkin 1953 The Society is looking forward to the Centenary celebrations next year, but we wanted to mark what would have been Larkin’s 99th birthday this year by reading his poems. The readings have been recorded and submitted [...]

The Philip Larkin Society has a formal structure which helps us to run effectively. This has allowed us to appoint a President (Anthony Thwaite 1930-2021) and a number of honorary vice-presidents. HVPs support the charity both publicly and behind the scenes and generously lend their name to our [...]

Philip Larkin was not just a poet, he was also a jazz journalist. His collected articles can be found in All What Jazz: A Record Diary 1961–1971. (Faber and Faber. 1985). Larkin’s love of jazz was less prominent in his poetry, but one poem stands out as a startling ‘love song’ [...]

We are deeply saddened by the passing of the President of the Philip Larkin Society, Anthony Thwaite.  Anthony has held that role since the foundation of the Society in 1995 and only last year renewed his appointment for a further five years. To the presidency, he brought his reputation as a [...]

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.” Professor Zachary Leader is Professor of [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]