Professor Graham Chesters was a university colleague of Larkin’s and is Vice Chairman of the Philip Larkin Society. Larkin is linked in the national consciousness with the city of Hull, which he called ‘the town that lets you write,’ although after his appointment as the [...]

On 2 October 1974 Larkin sent his mother a colour postcard of Prince Charles, saluting in military uniform : ‘I am in the train going down to London where I shall see Betjeman and go to Westminster Abbey to see him unveil a tablet to Auden.’ On the following day he sent a follow-up [...]

In celebration of Philip Larkin’s memorialisation in Poets’ Corner, the Friends of the Bodleian are to hold a  reading of Philip Larkin and Barbara Pym’s letters on Saturday, 10 December at 6pm in the Weston Library (part of the Bodleian Libraries) in Oxford. Further details are [...]

St James the Less, Pimlico: 21 September 2016, 6.00 for 6.30 – 8.00 pm Schoolgirls, Seaside, Churches and Death: Betjeman and Larkin James Booth The poems of Betjeman and Larkin present striking similarities, but also strong contrasts. Larkin frequently cited Betjeman in his campaign of [...]

We are pleased to announce that, following the recent AGM, membership fees for 2016-17 are unchanged. Click below to download the relevant form. 2016 Application 2016 Renewal    

Our 42nd AGM, held at the Lawns Centre, Cottingham on 4 June 2016, showed the Society at a high point. Our finances are under no threat, though Jackie Sewell’s clear and comprehensive Treasurer’s Report recommended various economies which have been put into effect. Our wish to take [...]

The current 40-page issue of About Larkin shows a photograph of a smiling Eva Larkin taken by Philip in 1970. It includes facsimiles of communications between Philip and Eva featuring his charming sketches of ‘young creature’ and ‘old creature’.         We also publish a [...]

Saturday 4th June 2016 The Lawns Centre, Cottingham AGM 12.30 followed by lunch at 1.15 pm and at 2.30 pm our distinguished Guest Lecturer: Mark Haworth-Booth (formerly Curator of Photography at the V & A): Larkin the Photographer For tickets contact Carole Collinson Tel: 01482 [...]

  On Sunday April 3rd a group of 36 students and their teachers from Queensland Academy, Brisbane, visited Hull for a Larkin Study Day, hosted by the University and the Philip Larkin Society. They toured the newly refurbished University Library, including a rare opportunity to visit  the [...]

On Sunday 9th August 2015, to mark Larkin’s birthday and the 30th anniversary of the year of his death, a fabulous evening of musical and poetic performances took place at various stages along  Hull’s Larkin Trail, beginning in Spring Bank Cemetery and ending in Ye Olde Black Boy in [...]