Alison Mace

Breadfruit

September 2011 Nomination: Breadfruit [19 November 1961. From Collected Poems (1988)] This is a poem that proclaims itself Larkin’s in many ways: by theme, by style and most delightfully by its wit. Written in 1961, and also published that winter – even though Larkin

Sinking like sediment through the day

March 2008 Nomination: Sinking like sediment through the day [13 May 1949. From Collected Poems (1988)] May 1949, the month this poem was written, found Larkin at an emotional low ebb. That spring, his relationship with Ruth Bowman had come to an end, the