Philip Pullen – Page 2 – The Philip Larkin Society

‘Larkinworld 2’

Larkinworld 2 is the development of an exhibition by D J Roberts first shown at the National Poetry Library, London, in 2017 and now to be shown in Hull as part of the Larkin centenary celebrations.

Roberts writes:

‘As was the case in London, viewers may be surprised by its upbeat nature, by its urban, streetwise aesthetic. This is because my reaction to Larkin’s work has always been of a very specific type. Psychologically Larkin’s world may often be one of morbid obsession, but physically it is a world of bars and shopping malls and cinemas, and this is the world I identify with and enjoy being part of, this is the world that attracted me to his poetry in the first place.

No poet I know more powerfully evokes the ordinary everyday world around us, a world that can comfort, stimulate and excite. Nobody does train journeys better than Larkin, or urban edgelands, or hotels late at night. Nor do sharp shoes, iced lollies and Coke dispensers often get a mention in serious verse.

This is the world I have tried to explore in Larkinworld 2. It is not an elitist world – Larkin was not an elitist in many of his recreations and pleasures – but it’s the world we all live in, and no other major poet I can think of evokes it so vividly, so convincingly, and with such acceptance and affection.’

Larkinworld 2 will be on show in the Exhibition Hall of the Brynmor Jones Library, University of Hull from August 9th to September 25th 2022

Larkin Day

Three years in the making, a long and difficult journey through pandemic, lockdown and huge funding difficulties and we made it through. Larkin100 finally got off the ground, and it flies beautifully!

What a day we had! What a celebration! An amazing event at Hull Truck Theatre started the day in a perfect way, showing us just what Hull offers to poets and musicians and dancers, as a place to write, sing and perform. And then into the evening an inspired performance from the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage at the University’s Middleton Hall. A short stroll away, in the Brynmor Jones Library, ‘Larkinworld’ re-established itself in the in the form of D J Roberts’ wonderful exhibition. And not just in Hull. Tributes, reflections, inspiration flooded in from across the world via social media.

We thought we might share just a few of the many images and memories of what Simon Armitage rightfully called ‘Larkin Day’.

‘Finding Home’ Hull Truck Theatre

Writer and broadcaster, Matthew Sweet The Mechanicals Band

Vicky Foster and The Broken Orchestra. Imtiaz Dharker

Simon Armitage at Middleton Hall

And this really is just the beginning. There will be a host of Larkin-inspired events across the country throughout the rest of the year. Be sure to check our website and Twitter account for updates.

‘Finding Home’ 9 August Hull

Larkin100 presents

‘Finding Home’ Hull Truck Theatre, Tuesday 9 August 2pm

On what would have been Philip Larkin’s 100th birthday, writer and broadcaster Matthew Sweet will steer us through an afternoon in the city that both he, and Larkin, sometimes called home. Imtiaz Dharker, an Honorary Vice-President of the Philip Larkin Society, will share her newly commissioned poem on Larkin. The JoinedUpDance Company will perform ‘This Tide of Humber’, a mixed media dance piece based on another Imtiaz Dharker poem. Wes Finch, a Coventry based musician, will set Larkin’s words to music. The Broken Orchestra and Vicky Foster will tell stories of people Larkin might meet if he walked the Hull streets today.

Tickets: £15 and £12 concessions.

Bookings via Hull Truck Box Office, tel 01482 323 638

PLS in Coventry – the 2022 AGM

For the first time ever, and fittingly in the centenary year of Larkin’s birth, PLS held its AGM and Annual Distinguished Guest Lecture in Coventry at Larkin’s old school, King Henry VIII. It was the first face-to-face AGM for three years and so a particularly exhilarating get together of old friends and a host of new members and trustees of the Society.

Those arriving early had a rare opportunity to view the School’s Larkin Archive, guided by Helen Cooper, the School’s Librarian and Archivist. We could feast over Larkin’s school reports (ranging from the ‘average’ performance of his earlier years to the achievements in the sixth form which gained him a place at St John’s College, Oxford) and his early writing in the School’s magazine, The Coventrian. Helen also gave us a fascinating guided tour of the old part of the School, which Larkin would have known, and even took us onto the roof to contemplate the damage caused by the 1941 air raid which Larkin himself experienced while staying in the family house on Manor Road (since destroyed by the Coventry Ring Road).

A charred Bible damaged in the April 1941 air raid. It still smells of smoke!

Rachael Galletly, Merchandising Officer, with the new Larkin100 Tee-Shirts.

Philip Pullen, a PLS trustee and Chair of Larkin100 and himself a ‘Coventry Kid’, gave the annual lecture which focused on Larkin’s childhood and adolescent experiences in the city.

Philip’s talk can be viewed here.

Ben Kyneswood, of Coventry University, and the City of Culture’s Digital Archivist introduced us to the new online Larkin Trail, based on the original version written by Don Lee, and which can be found on the Coventry Digital Website.

A copy of Ben’s presentation can be found here.

The day ended with a talk arranged by the School and featuring international author, Pete Ho Davies, a previous pupil of King Henry VIII. Peter’s fascinating talk centred on the writer’s invisible art of revision with several references to the work of Philip Larkin.

Peter’s talk can be found here.

Alliance of Literary Societies AGM Weekend

The Philip Larkin Society was delighted to host the AGM of the Alliance of Literary Societies in Hull over the weekend of 20 – 22nd May 2022. The ALS acts as an umbrella organisation for literary societies and groups in the UK and provides support and advice on a variety of literary subjects, as well as promoting cooperation between member societies.

This was the first AGM to be held face-to-face for three years, following the disruption of the pandemic, and attracted over 50 delegates from a number of different literary societies, including some visitors from overseas.

In a weekend packed with activity, delegates were able to enjoy informal dinners at two of Hull’s best kept secrets, Hitchcock’s vegetarian restaurant in the old town, and the Minerva pub, once frequented by Larkin, as well as a tour of the University and parts of the Larkin Trail.

Friday night at Hitchcock’s.

Graham Chesters, Chair of The Philip Larkin Society.

PLS Trustees, Rachael Galletly and Daniel Vince, at our merchandise table.

Readings at The Minerva. Claire Harman, President of the Alliance of Literary Societies, reads from ‘Letters To Monica’.

PLS Honorary Vice President, Ann Thwaite, with letters and cards written to her by Philip Larkin and now donated to the Brynmor Jones Library.

Outside Larkin’s house in Newland Park.

The excellent key note lecture was given by Dr James Underwood who talked about the value of the Larkin Archive located at the Hull History Centre and how this informed the research for his book on ‘Early Larkin’

A recording of James’s talk can be found here.

Feedback from delegates, many of whom were visiting Hull for the first time, was highly positive as reflected in this comment:

It is marvellous to be surrounded by so many people who just want to talk about books. It is hard to pick out a favourite event but James Underwood’s talk, the visit to the university, and the walks to Larkin’s residences were brilliant. And I found the (Ferens) City Art Gallery – it is a little gem.

It also inspired this blog post by the Siegfried Sassoon Fellowship.

We are looking forward to attending next year’s ALS AGM which will be in Winchester, hosted by the Charlotte M Yonge Society.

Association of Literary Societies AGM weekend

The PLS is proud to be an organisational partner in the Alliance of Literary Societies and even prouder, in this Larkin centenary year, to be hosting the ALS Annual General Meeting in Hull, 20th-22nd May. The weekend is very much a social and literary occasion with an AGM embedded alongside informal meals and a chance to get together and discuss all things literary. All are welcome from all of ALS’s affiliated societies. The weekend is heavily themed around Larkin, as you might expect.

Please click on the link at the bottom of this forwarded message to find out more about the programme and booking details as well as discounted accommodation rates. It would be marvellous to see PLS well represented. If you are not already a member of the PLS then this would be a fantastic time to join

The Association of Literary Societies will be holding its AGM this year at the Hull History Centre. The weekend will be hosted by the Philip Larkin Society and will include a range of talks about his life and works, including his time at the University of Hull. As always there will be plenty of opportunities to meet and socialise with friends from other societies.

For a full programme of events and a booking form to secure your place at the event go to:

https://allianceofliterarysocieties.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/als-agm-2022.pdf

Tiny In All That Air – Honorary Vice-Presidents

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 work. Recently we have been able to appoint some new HVPs, three of whom we speak to in this episode. Rosie Millard, journalist and University of hull Alumnus, sculptor Martin Jennings and writer David Quantick. They all reflect on their love of Larkin and their thoughts about the PLS. We also have a reading of The Whitsun Weddings by another new HVP, writer Ann Thwaite, OBE.

To access the podcast click here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/49LYkkM7KmkUD5HCnY0Cfs?si=a0f2c3f96e844400

Philip Larkin Collected Poems, edited by Anthony Thwaite, 1988 Faber

Hull: City of Culture | British Council

https://martinjennings.com/

https://davidquantick.com/

David Quantick reads MCMXLXIX from About Larkin No. 50 (October 2020)

Ann Thwaite | Authors | Faber & Faber

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 editing by Simon Galloway.

For Sidney Bechet – A ‘Tiny In All That AIR’ Podcast

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’ to New Orleans – For Sidney Bechet, (to be found in The Whitsun Weddings, 1964). In this episode we tell the fascinating story of saxophonist Sidney Bechet and how his life and music interwove with that of Larkin’s. We have some amazing jazz to accompany us and some voices of the time, opening with Philip Larkin himself.

For Sidney Bechet from The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin (1964, Faber)- reading taken from The Sunday Sessions (2009)
Philip Larkin, Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury 2015)
Tracks from Larkins’ Jazz (Properbox 55):
· Sidney Bechet and his New Orleans Footwarmers- Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning and Blue Horizon
· Frankie Traumbauer and his Orchestra- Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
Other jazz tracks:
Sidney Bechet- Sheik of Araby and Petit Fleur
Monty Sunshine – Petit Fleur
Charlie Parker – A Night in Tunisia
Thom Yorke on Desert Island Discs https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008qg3
La La Land (dir. Damien Chazelle, 2016)
Treat It Gentle by Sidney Bechet (Cassell, 1960)
Sidney Bechet The Wizard of Jazz by John Chilton (Macmillan 1987)
An Enormous Yes In memoriam Philip Larkin (1922-1985)(Peterloo Poets, 1986)
Leonard Bechet clip from ‘Jelly Roll Morton Godfather of Jazz’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFpkgZBf-mc
https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz

Presented by Lyn Lockwood.
Audio production by Gavin Hogg, mastering by Simon Galloway.

Anthony Thwaite 1930-2021

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 poet, his Larkin scholarship and his influential role as a Larkin executor. But he also brought his experience, his wisdom and his charm. Until ill health intervened in recent years, he was an incredibly loyal chair of the Annual Distinguished PLS lecture. He himself gave presentations and was a skilful interviewer at the launch of important Larkin books. He played a key part in two of the most joyous PLS moments: the unveiling of the Larkin statue in Hull and the memorialisation of Larkin in Poets’ Corner.

He leaves behind Ann, herself a distinguished author and powerful ally to Anthony in his presidency. To her we have offered our deepest condolences.

In due course, the Executive Committee will bend its mind to finding a successor. Quite some task.

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.”

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)

——————————————-

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.

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.

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)

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.

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!

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 broadcaster, 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.