Afleveringen
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Writer Ann Thwaite has a long involvement with the society and with Philip Larkin himself. Ann married Anthony Thwaite when they were both young Oxford graduates. Anthony Thwaite brought Larkinâs poems to the BCC and many publications in his work as an editor. Anthony was Larkinâs executor alongside Andrew Motion, and went on to edit Larkinâs letters and poems. Anthony was the founding President of the Philip Larkin Society until he passed away in 2021 at the age of 90. Ann continues to be an active supporter of the society as one of our honorary vice presidents.
A new collection of Anthonyâs poems is shortly to be published by Baylor University Press entitled At The Gardenâs Dark Edge.
Kevin Gardner https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/12-april/features/interviews/interview-kevin-gardner-lecturer-anthologist
https://academic.oup.com/litthe/article-abstract/23/1/51/938106
Brotherton Library, University of Leeds
https://leedsunilibrary.wordpress.com/2021/04/28/anthony-thwaite-1932-2021/
Ann reads poems by Anthony Thwaite:
Sigma, Silence, Philip Larkin in New Orleans
Philip Larkin poem read by Ann:
The View- âLarkin sent the poem with a letter to Ann Thwaite dated 9 Feb 1980. The birthday was on 23 June 1980.â (Burnett, p. 660)
Six Centuries of Verse written by Anthony Thwaite http://bufvc.ac.uk/shakespeare/index.php/title/19671
Broadcast on ITV in 1984 and compiled by writer and poet Anthony Thwaite, Six Centuries of Verse was the first television series to provide a systematic and chronological overview of the art.
The Japan Foundation https://www.jpf.org.uk/
The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/larkin-at-100/2022/07/ann-thwaite-philip-larkin-centenary
British Library audio archives https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/a/A13531725
Enitharmon Books (Anthonyâs UK publishers) https://www.enitharmon.co.uk/product/a-move-in-the-weather-anthony-thwaite/
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury, 2015)
Philip Larkin: A Writerâs Life by Andrew Motion (Faber, 1994)
The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse ed. Philip Larkin (Oxford University Press, 1973)
Philip Larkin Collected Poems ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 1988)
Philip Larkin Selected Letters ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber and Faber, 1993)
Philip Larkin: Letters to Monica ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber and Faber, 2011)
Colin Dextorâs references to Larkin in Inspector Morse https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2016/jan/26/severed-limbs-intertextuality-guide-endeavour-hidden-secrets
Grayson Perry in Hull (2017) https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-44.pdf
Unveiling the Plaque at Kings Cross (2014)
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-38.pdf
Elizabeth Jennings https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/stock/collected-poems-elizabeth-jennings-elizabeth-jennings
Larkin at Sixty ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 1982)
Larkin at Sixty (review) https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v04/n20/barbara-everett/larkin-and-us
Poems for Anthony Thwaite, a manuscript volume of signed holograph poems collected from notable poets https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/12550
A A Milne: His Life by Ann Thwaite (Faber, 1991)
Please see the PLS X account @PLSoc for pictures of the interview with Ann Thwaite
Music clips:
Spain by Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats
The Blues Jumped a Rabbit by Jimmy Noone
Reckless Blues by Bessie Smith
Petit Fleur by Sidney Bechet, played Monty Sunshine
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at â [email protected]â with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Emily Tennyson: The Poet's Wife by Ann Thwaite (Faber, 1997)Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: â https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz -
This episode is all about the 2 PLS conference events that took place on 13-15th March 2024 at the University of Hull.
Professor Douglas Bell, now back home in the city of Ningbo in China, reflects on visiting Hull City centre and Cottingham for the first time in over 30 years, having graduated from the University of Hull in 1991. Rachael Galletly, PLS Trustee and merchandise officer talks about speakers David Quantick, Blake Morrison, our actors Daniel Wain and Lynne Harrison, and the contribution made by our wonderful artist D J Roberts. Helen Cooper reflects on her research into larkin, Lucian Freud and cancel culture, as well as the allure of Larkin bookends and Lucy Keating gives us her view of Larkin as someone who has also worked for many years in academic libraries as well as being a fan of classic English pop. We end with Professor Graham Chesters, our chair, and his thoughts about not just the main conference but also the schools and colleges post-16 education day that we also held that week, with an amazing story about a very special pair of letters, one written to Larkin and one written by Larkin in response.
Professor Douglas Bell is Professor of Education at the School of Education & English, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo China
Bell, D.E. (2024) âOne of those old-type natural fouled up guysâ: A Comparative Investigation of Larkinâs poetic persona and voice in âThe Whitsun Weddingsâ and âHigh Windowsâ.
A recording can be accessed at: Professor Douglas Bell - 'One of those old-type natural fouled up guys.' - YouTube
Rachael Galletly has been a trustee of the Philip Larkin Society since 2015 and works for a national educational charity.
Helen Cooper was one of the first thirty girls to join King Henry VIII School in Coventry in 1975. It was when she returned to the School as the Librarian in 2014 that she began to develop her interest in Philip Larkin. The first Larkin event she organised at the School was a Symposium to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death in 2015 and her last, shortly before she left the School and moved to live in London, was the PLS AGM during Larkinâs centenary in 2022.
Lucy Keating is originally from Birmingham, where she first encountered Philip Larkin's poetry at school in the 1980s. She spent her career working mainly in academic libraries and related projects, and now lives in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Professor Graham Chesters is the chair of the PLS and taught at the University of Hull from 1972 to 2007.
Our next event is the society AGM which takes place in Oxford on Saturday June 8th 2024, 11.30am at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The event is free to all members.
The PLS events group is planning lots more for later in the year so if you want to keep informed then please sign up to the mailing list at our website or, of course, become a member.
Music: Knockin A Jug, On the Sunny Side of the Street from Larkinâs Jazz Disc 1 (I Remember, I Remember), Petit Fleur (Sidney Bechet) played by Monty Sunshine
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at â [email protected]â with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: â https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz -
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Today we are joined by our society President, Rosie Millard. Rosie came to Hull as an undergraduate while Larkin was still librarian at the university and she has maintained close links with Hull ever since. She was made Chair of Hull City of Culture 2017 and appointed OBE in the 2018 New Year Honours List for services in the arts to the city of Hull. Rosie is a writer, broadcaster and arts journalist and is also the chair of BBC Children In Need. In todayâs podcast, Rosie and I discuss Solar, Money, Cut Grass and How Distant from High Windows to discuss as part of our preparations for the Philip Larkin Society Conference that is taking place in Hull March 14-15th 2024. Rosie starts us off by reflecting on her first 18 months as our president.
With best wishes to Thomas Gordon and in memory of Andrew Eastwood.
Philip Larkin poems referenced and discussed:
This be The Verse, Annus Mirabilis, Going Going, How Distant, Here, The Whitsun Weddings, High Windows, The Old Fools, Absences, Cut Grass, The Mower, The Trees, Aubade, The Old Fools, The Explosion, At Grass, An Arundel Tomb, Solar, Sad Steps, Money
Out of Reach: The Poetry of Philip Larkin by Andrew Swarbrick (St Martinâs Press, 1997)
Poets In Their Time: Essays on English Poetry from Donne to Larkin by Barbara Everett (Clarendon Paperbacks, 1997)
Experience by Martin Amis (Jonathan Cape, 2000)
âSheâs Leaving Home,â by The Beatles from Sgt. Pepperâs Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone, 1967)
Music: Shoe Shine Boy, Just a Mood, Tiger Rag from Larkinâs Jazz Disc 1 (I Remember, I Remember), Petit Fleur (Sidney Bechet) played by Monty Sunshine
PLS Conference 2024 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/philip-larkin-society-conference-2024-tickets-769584597247
âThey may not mean toâ tote bag available here (thank you to Grayson Perry for the idea) and Tiny In All That Air pencils https://philiplarkin.com/shop/
New Eyes Each Year Exhibition 2017
https://philiplarkin.com/new-eyes-each-year/#:~:text=Larkin%3A%20New%20Eyes%20Each%20Year%20invites%20questions%20from%20the%20visitor,seen%20letters%2C%20photographs%20and%20doodles.
https://substack.com/@rosiemillard
The Haworth pub (once frequented by Philip Larkin and writers of Hullâs Bete Noir literary journal edited by Jean Hartley, such as Alan Plater)
https://www.greatukpubs.co.uk/haworth-hull/food-and-drink
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at [email protected] with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
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 -
Zachary Leader is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Roehampton. He grew up in California but has lived in Britain for over fifty years and has dual US/UK citizenship. He was educated at Northwestern University, Trinity College, Cambridge, and Harvard and is the biographer of Kingsley Amis and edited the Letters of Kingsley Amis. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and General Editor of The Oxford History of Life-Writing, a 7-volume series published by OUP.
PLS Trustee Daniel Vince is a soon-to-be graduate of the University of York, where he earned his MA by Research on the post-war working class novel. He has recently started work on his PhD entitled âThe New University in Post-War British Literatureâ, in which Larkin and the University of Hull play a significant role â other writers include Malcolm Bradbury, David Lodge and Kingsley Amis. A trustee of The Philip Larkin Society, our e-newsletter editor and a member of our events committee,.
Todayâs conversation focuses on John Wainâs Hurry On Down (1953) and Philip Larkinâs Jill (1946).
Notes and further reading and event links
The Life of Saul Bellow by Zachary Leader (Cape, 2015)
The Oxford Handbook of Percy Bysshe Shelley (Oxford Handbooks)
by Michael O'Neill (Editor) (Oxford Handbooks, 2017)
The Life of Kingsley Amis by Zachary Leader (Vintage, 2007)
The Letters of Kingsley Amis by Zachary Leader (Editor), (Harper Collins, 2001)
Cultural Nationalism and Modern Manuscripts: Kingsley Amis, Saul Bellow, Franz Kafka
Zachary Leader
https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/cultural-nationalism-and-modern-manuscripts-kingsley-amis-saul-be 2013
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh (1928)
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (1954)
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (1881)
Jill by Philip Larkin (1946)
Hurry on Down by John Wain (1953)
Changing Places by David Lodge (1975)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1937)
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951)
The Movement: English Poetry and Fiction of the 1950's by Blake Morrison (1980)
The Movement Reconsidered: Essays on Larkin, Amis, Gunn, Davie and Their Contemporaries by Zachary Leader (OUP, 2011)
The Importance of Philip Larkin by John Wain, The American Scholar, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Summer 1986), pp. 349-364
Interviews with Britain's Angry Young Men: Kingsley Amis, John Braine, Bill Hopkins, John Wain and Colin Wilson: 2 (Milford Series) by Dale Salwak (Borgo Press, 2007)
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (2015, Bloomsbury)
Philip Larkin: A Writerâs Life by Andrew Motion (Faber, 1994)
Philip Larkin Selected Letters ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber and Faber, 1993)
Out of Reach: The Poetry of Philip Larkin by Andrew Swarbrick (1997)
Larkin poems mentioned:
Livings, The Importance of Elsewhere, The Whitsun Weddings, High Windows, Absences, If, My Darling, This Be The Verse
Other references:
The Sun (British tabloid newspaper, founded 1964), John Braine (English novelist 1922-1986), Ben Johnson (English playwright- 1597-1637), Franz Kafka (Czech novelist, 1883- 1924)
Book tickets for Chichester event here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/philip-larkin-society-members-event-at-chichester-cathedral-tickets-781230199557?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Register for schools event here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/higher-windows-post-16-english-enrichment-day-at-the-university-of-hull-tickets-737140074807?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Register for Conference 2024 here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/philip-larkin-society-conference-2024-tickets-769584597247?aff=oddtdtcreator
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The Philip Larkin Society always mark the 2nd ofDecember which is the anniversary of Philip Larkinâs death in 1985. In 2022 we marked the date with the unveiling of a blue plaque in Coventry at Larkinâs birthplace and we held an evening event at Westminster Abbey with poetry readings at the site of his plaque in Poetâs Corner. It felt right to do something a little more informal and closer to home in Hull. This episode is a live recording of the quiz in the Haworth Pub, Hull.
Thank you to Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society Alan Johnson for being such super quiz master and for our esteemed President Rosie Millard for making the journey up to Hull just for this event.
The whole quiz and the answers are featured, so you can play along!
The quiz questions and answers can also be found on the PLS website.
Venue- The Haworth Pub, 449 Beverley Road, Hull, HU6 7LD
On site recording and first edit by Philip Pullen
Music: Zat You, Santa Claus? by Louis Armstrong and The Commanders ( November 1953)
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
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
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In this episode we talk to Beverley based poet Chris Sewart in his second appearance on Tiny in All That Air, and Phil Pullen, trustee of the PLS, who regular listeners will be familiar with from a number of previous episodes. We talk about Chris's poetry and his upcoming performance as the 'warm up' for Roger McGough in Beverley next year (details below). We also discuss Phil's new project for the PLS You-Tube account documenting the Larkin Trail. We end the episode considering three poems from High Windows- The Explosion, Livings and Forget What Did- as we look ahead to the 50th anniversary of the publication of High Windows in 2024 and the PLS Conference in March at the University of Hull.
Larkin poems mentioned:
Annus Mirabilis, Livings, Forget What Did, The Explosion, ToThe Sea, Going Going, The Building, Aubade, The Old Fools, The Trees, Solar,Cut Grass, Friday Night at the Royal Station Hotel, How Distant, I Remember, I Remember, MCMXIV, At Grass, Mr Bleaney, Absences, Broadcast, Dublinesque, ShowSaturday, Here
The Less Deceived (Faber, 1955) The Whitsun Weddings (Faber1964), High Windows (Faber, 1974)
Chris Sewart reads his poems A Boy and CartoonKiss.
Home Is So Sad Beverley Art Gallery April 2023 : âHome is so Sadâ, showcased newly commissioned artwork, alongside pieces from the permanent collections of East Riding Museums and the Philip Larkin Society featured the paintings and installations of Seoul-based artists Yeonkyoung Lee and Sam Robinson.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr-IcSIS4mY
A Joyous Shot
https://www.visiteastyorkshire.co.uk/event/philip-larkin-%E2%80%93-a-joyous-shot/191184101/
Details of the PLS Conference and other events can be found here:
https://philiplarkin.com/uncategorized/forthcoming-events/
The link for Chrisâs poetry workshop and appearance withRoger McGough at the Stage4Beverley festival is https://stage4beverley.com/
Today I Cycled toBeverley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QYMXXnJ_e8
Lyn Talking about Sylvia Plath: Horror Poet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVoi999Eywk
The Beatles- Please, Please Me (1963, Parlophone) SgtPepperâs Lonely Heartâs Club Band (Parlophone, 1967), The White Album (1968,Apple)
Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse Book ed.Philip Larkin (OUP, 1973)
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (2015,Bloomsbury)
Somewhere becoming Rain: Collected Writings on Philip Larkin(Picador, 2019)
The Philip Larkin I Knew by Maeve Brennan (MUP, 2002)
Philip Larkin, The Marvell Press and Me by Jean Hartley(Faber and Faber, 2012)
Philip Larkin: A Writerâs Life by Andrew Motion (Faber,1994)
Letters to Monica by Philip Larkin ed. Anthony Thwaite.(Faber and Faber, 2011)
Philip Larkin Selected Letters ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faberand Faber, 1993)
Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-1982 by PhilipLarkin (Faber and Faber, 1983)
Philip Larkin: The Man and His Work ed. Dale Salwak(Palgrave, 1983)
Philip Larkin, Monitor, Down Cemetery Road https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coe11pgoj8E
Authors mentioned by Chris
Kit de Waal | Kit de Waal
Summerwater by Sarah Moss review â a dark holiday in Scotland |Fiction | The Guardian
The Mersey Sound: Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and BrianPatten (Penguin, first published 1967, since reprinted many times!)
Jonathan Edwards â The Poetry Society: Poems
Rachel Long (rachel-long.com)
'Instead of a card' poetry pamphlets â UK based independent publisher(candlestickpress.co.uk)
The Catch by Simon Armitage https://www.poeticous.com/simon-armitage/the-catch-forget
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
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
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This episode was researched and planned by PLS Trustees Julian Henry and Dr Chris Fletcher, Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Philip Larkin was a librarian for 42 years. He had no formal training when he set off; he chose the career on the spur of the moment as a 21 year old after leaving university, like many students, without a career in mind. However, he came to be one of the UK's most influential and ground-breaking librarians of the post-war years, and his influence is still felt today. In this episode we examine Larkin's life as a librarian and how in interwove with his writing, friendships and relationships.
Larkin poems discussed:
An Arundel Tomb
The Card Players
Long Lion Days
Lines on a Young Lady's Photograph Album
Wedding Wind
The Mower
At Grass
Toads/ Toads Revisited
Other references:
My Particular Talents by Richard Goodman, About Larkin, 4 October 1997.Huddled Tea Breaks in the Cupboard by Pamela Hanley, About Larkin, 4 October 1997.https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-04.pdf
Agony in the Garden The Independent on Sunday, Dr Christopher Fletcher, 31/10/2004
A Neglected Responsibility by Philip Larkin from Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-1982 (Faber, 1986)
Letters to Monica by Philip Larkin ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 2010)
Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life by Andrew Motion (Faber, 1993)
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
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
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This talk was given to the Philip Larkin Society in 2010 by Emeritus Reader of American History at the University of Hull, John White. John White is the PLS jazz consultant and along with Trevor Tolley, compiled the wonderful âLarkinâs Jazzâ 4 disc CD released on Proper Records. This was part of the Larkin25 commemorative events. The talk is a warm and witty exploration of Larkinâs -sometimes extremely dry- sense of humour taking in camels, Jack Nicholson, raccoon coats and wine that tastes âlike cricket bats.â
Content warning- liberal use of swearingâŠ
References:
Philip Larkin: A Writerâs Life by Andrew Motion (Faber 1993)
Pretending to Be Me- Tom Courtney (Hachette Audio Book 2003)
The Philip Larkin I Knew- Maeve Brennan (Manchester University Press, 2002)
Selected Letters of Philip Larkin 1940-1985 (ed. Anthony Thwaite, Faber 1992)
Philip Larkin: A Bibliography, 1933-1994- B Bloomfield
All What Jazz: A Record Diary 1961 - 1971 (Faber) Philip Larkin
Poems referenced:
Church Going, Wild Oats, This Be The Verse, Vers de Societe,
Selfâs The Man read by Philip Larkin can be heard at the end of the talk.
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
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
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Philip Larkin was just five years old when Hardy died in 1928, but this English poet and novelist was going to have a profound influence on Larkinâs writing.
To discuss some of the connections between Larkin and Hardy, Lyn is joined by Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Hull Jane Thomas and composer Arthur Keegan.
Thomas Hardy Novels: Jude the Obscure, Far From the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure, A Pair of Blue Eyes,
Thomas Hardy Collections: The Dynasts, Winter Words, Poems 1912-13
Thomas Hardy poems: Drummer Hodge, Neutral Tones, Afterwards, Lying Awake, A Circular
Philip Larkin poems: No Road, The Mower, Aubade, Skin
Other references: DH Lawrence, Sappho, Darwin, JS Mill, WB Yeats, Dylan Thomas, Gustav Holst, Gerald Finzie, Ivor Gurney, Nicholas Moore (composer), Benjamin Britten, Imogen Holst, Robin Milford, Henry Handel Richardson,
Early Larkin by James Underwood (Bloomsbury 2021)
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury 2015)
The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse ed Philip Larkin (Oxford 1973)
Required Writing- Miscellaneous Pieces by Philip Larkin (1955-1982) Faber 1983 (âWanted, a good Hardy criticâ)
Astonishing the Brickwork by James L. Orwin (Dancing Sisters, 2022)
https://philiplarkin.com/product/astonishing-the-brickwork-philip-larkin-set-to-music-jim-orwin/
Peaches by The Stranglers (1977)/ Budmouth Dears by Thomas Hardy (first published in The Dynasts, 1908),
Elegies for Emma/Elegies for Tom https://www.arthurkeegan.co.uk/
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at [email protected] with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
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 -
This talk was given to the PLS in 2001 by Winifred Dawson. Winifred was born in London, but educated in Belfast which is where she met Larkin when they were both working at Queenâs University Library. Win also went on to write herself and published a biography of Amy Audrey Locke, a muse for the poet WB Yeats. Win opens with a reflection on Larkinâs love for his parents, However, the talk is mainly about Larkinâs relationship with the women in his life: Ruth Bowman, Winifred, Monica Jones, Patsy Strang, Maeve Brennan (who is listening in the audience) and Betty Mackereth. Ruth, Maeve and Win went on to form a friendship, having first met at Ruth's house in 1993, 8 years after Larkin died. Maeve Brennan can be heard very briefly at the end of the talk.The talk is full of humour, and a frank account of her feelings about Larkin, as well as readings of Larkinâs poetry and letters. The poetry readings were not recorded at the time of the talk, and so are instead read by members of the current Philip Larkin Society committee. We have also added the 1975 poem âWhen first we facedâ after Toads Revisited as a second poem about Betty Mackereth.Books and writers mentioned:
Philip Larkin: A Writerâs Life by Andrew Motion(1993)
Philip Larkin Selected Letters ed. Anthony Thwaite (1993)
Playing the Harlot- Patsy Avis (published by Virago in 1996)
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (1954)
Peter Ackroyd, Katherine Mansfield, Flann OâBrienâs At Swim-Two- Birds (1939), The Real Charlotte by Somerville and Ross (1894), John Betjeman, Scenes from Provincial Life by William Cooper (1950) , DH Lawrence,
The Porterâs Daughter: The Life of Amy Audrey Locke by Winifred Dawson (Sarsen Press, 2014)
Larkinâs review of The Girls by Henry de Montherlant (1959) can be found in Required Writing (1983)
Poems mentioned- poems which are read in the episode are in bold:
Days, Faith Healing, An April Sunday Brings the Snow , Reference Back, Mother, Summer, I Wild Oats, No Road, Within the dream you said, Show Saturday, Talking in Bed, Poem About Oxford, Latest Face, Lines on a Young Ladyâs Photograph Album, At thirty-one, when some are rich He hears his beloved, Long roots, Maiden Name, Broadcast, Morning at last, Toads Revisited, When First We Faced, To My Wife, Counting, An Arundel Tomb
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/28/winifred-dawson Ann Thwaiteâs obituary of Win Dawson
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-01.pdf First issue of About Larkin
Further reading:
Philip Larkin, Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury, 2014)
Thank you to Jim Orwin for the original recording and sleeve notes. Thank you to Graham Chesters, Simon Smith, Daniel Vince, Phil Pullen, Clarissa Hard, Rachael Galletly, Alex Davis, Gavin Hogg and Julian wild for reading the poems.
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
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
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This episode features a writer who would be familiar not only to Hull residents but also to keen telly watchers, radio listeners and theatre goers across the country. Alan Plater was born in Jarrow in 1935 but having moved to Hull when he was just three years old, the city was pleased to adopt him and he lived there for much of his life. His most famous writing credit was probably Z Cars. Alan Plater was also a huge fan of jazz music and his ITV comedy drama The Beiderbecke Affair staring James Bolam and Barbara Flynn in the mid 1980s was a massive success. He went on to win countless awards and accolades for his wonderful writing.
Alan Plater was enormously generous with his time, and madea huge contribution to the Hull arts scene of the 1960s and 70s, developing agentle friendship with Philip Larkin along the way. This speech was recorded on28th November 1998, and wasgiven at that yearâs PLS AGM.
Thank you so much to Alexandra Cann who is the agent for theAlan Plater Literary Estate Ltd for giving us the initial approval to use thisrecording, and to Steve Plater and John Rubinstein who are the joint Directorsof the Lit Estate.
If you are interested in seeing an Alan Plater play thissummer, then the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough is putting on aproduction of the Blonde Bombshells of 1943 which is full of swing and jazz, from 2-26thAugust 2023.
https://sjt.uk.com/events/blonde-bombshells-of-1943
References:
Alfred Bradley https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/about/successes/alfred-bradley-award/
· The Occasional Smell of Fish (poem)
· Waiting for Gladys (Becket parody)
· Bete Noire (Hull poetry journal)
· Z Cars One Day In Spring Street
· Jazz Notes- BBC radio programme
· On Sunday January 4th I had MildConstipation
· Names (poem written for Three Trawlersfundraising) âmy only grown up poemâ
· Swallows on the Water (play)
· The Fosdyke Saga sonnet ( BBC radio tripe themed-parody of The Forsyth Saga,)- sent a copy to Larkin who responded with asigned copy of the High Windows calling him âsonnetteer extraordinaireâ
· Sweet Sorrow (1990) Platerâs play about Larkin
Matthew Arnold, Ogden Nash, Dylan Thomas, Alan Bleasdale,Ted Hughes, Barry Hines, Vera Wise, Henry Livings, Alex Glasgow, Carla Lane,Adrian Mitchell, Allan Ginsburg, Carole Mills (rude songs and low down blues),Robin Kay (flamenco guitarist), Max Boylett (jazz pianist), Ian Clarke andChris Rowe, Sid and Norm (artists without category), Joe Orton, The Beatles,John Ford (director of westerns), Roger McGough, Jimmy James (music hallperformer),Ken Wagstaff- (footballing hero), Fleur Adcock, Jeff Nuttall (had apee in a bucket on stage), Roni Scott, Suzi Quatro, Mike Bradwell (theatredirector), Jess Stacy (jazz pianist), Shakespeare, Max Wall, Peter Brooke(director), and many more Hull poetslisted by Plater.
Pubs mentioned â (in Leeds and Hull) The Bluebell, The Bull,The Fenton, the Hayworth Arms,
Philip Larkin judging poetry competition for the Hull ArtsCentre at Spring Street in 1970 which eventually became Hull Truck Theatre.
The loss of the three Hull trawlers in winter of 1967, 59trawlerman died- the poets organised a reading and Plater wrote âNamesâ.
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: The Philip Larkin Society â Philip Larkin
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
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At the time of recording this podcast we received the sad news that our founding chairman Professor Eddie Dawes had passed away on the 3rd March 2023 at the age of 97. Gavin and I were very privileged to be able to record the very first Tiny podcast with Eddie at his home in Hull. Eddie was so open to new ideas and ways of doing things. He was so supportive of my crazy idea to have a society podcast and was extremely patient as I fussed around with my microphone and notes. But I knew that Eddie had to be our very first guest- he was- and still is- the worldâs leading authority on the history of magic, a pioneering biochemist, the PLS chairman for over 20 years and good friends with Philip Larkin himself. A remarkable lifetime and a really lovely, gentle person who, as current chair Graham Chesters said, did indeed wear his exceptional gifts lightly.
Our guests this week are Clarissa Hard, PLS trustee and editor of About Larkin, and Francesca Gardner, who join me to talk about things and objects- objects in Larkinâs poetry and the significant objects in Larkinâs life; cigarette packets, socks, lawnmowers, vases, photo albums and more.
Francesca Gardner Larkinâs Meditating Machines (PLS Conference 2022) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHFDxFakbq4
Clarissa Hard Larkin: Churchgoer? (PLS Conference 2022)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PARTGcDGyq8
Home is So Sad, from 1st April to 13th May at Beverley Art gallery.
Home is So Sad presents newly commissioned paintings and installation art by Seoul-based artists Yeonkyoung Lee and Sam Robinson. Their work reflects a long-standing interest in the life and work of Philip Larkin, the details of everyday life, and the idea of âhomeâ as a fluid concept. Alongside this, the artists have selected pieces from the permanent collections of East Riding Museums and the Philip Larkin Society. During the exhibition there is an additional display of Larkin artefacts on show in the red gallery and there is a beautiful vase used as the main image on the publicity poster of course.
https://www.eastridingmuseums.co.uk/whats-on/?entry=home_is_so_sad
A Joyous Shot Friday 14th April, East Riding Theatre, Beverley
An evening of Larkin inspired words and music with Hull writer Vicky Foster, Beverley poet Chris Sewart and The Mechanicals Band- all of whom are old friends of the podcast. Please come along and enjoy what Iâm sure will be a wonderful evening.
https://www.eastridingtheatre.co.uk/philip-larkin-a-joyous-shot/
Larkin poems discussed:
High Windows, The Mower, Aubade, Wires, Aubade, Reference Back, Ambulances, Afternoons, Selfâs The Man, Dockery and Son, Here, The Whitsun Weddings, Home Is So Sad.
Other books and references:
Rime of the Ancient Mariner by ST Coleridge, Ozymandia by PB Shelley, The Mower by Andrew Marvell, Richard Bradford, The Importance of Elsewhere (Francis Howard Publishing, 2015), J. H. Prynne Acquisition of Love, Mark Waldron I wish I loved lawnmowers, Bill Brown Thing Theory, Gaston Bachelard The Material Imagination.
Podcast produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: The Philip Larkin Society â Philip Larkin
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
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Anne Fine gave our Distinguished Guest Lecture at the PLS AGM in 2004 and here we reproduce her talk in its entirety. Anne muses on how she discovered Larkin as a teenager who couldn't resist poems with swear words in, but also how she came to see the connections between Larkinâs poetry and her own life- especially The Trees- as well as her admiration for Larkin the professional writer as a fellow member of the âbusiness.â
Anne is best known for children's books, but she also writes for adults. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and she was appointed an OBE in 2003. She has won the annual Carnegie Medal twice and she also won the Guardian Prize, Smarties Prize, two Whitbread Awards, and she was twice Children's Author of the Year. From 2001 to 2003, Anne was the Children's Laureate in the UK. In 1987, Anne published Madame Doubtfire, which became the classic Twentieth Century Fox movie Mrs Doubtfire, starring Robin Williams.
Thank you to Anne for kindly giving us permission to use this talk on the podcast.
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This episodeâs guests are Gavin Hogg and Bruce Lindsay and we are discussing Ivor Cutler, poet, writer, teacher and musician, who was born Jan 15th 1923 and so is a close chronological contemporary of Philip Larkin, although their paths never crossed. We look at their surreal sense of humour, their different experiences of World War II, their approach to poetry, letter writing, jazz, public performance and the cultural landscape of Britain in the twentieth century.
Bruce Lindsay, Ivor Cutler: Life Outside the Sitting Room (Equinox, 2023)
https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/ivor-cutler/
Gavin Hogg and Hamish Ironside, We Peaked At Paper An Oral History of Fanzines (Boatwhistle Press, 2022)
https://www.boatwhistle.com/we-peaked-at-paper
Ivor Cutler poems referenced:
A Flat Man; Is that your Flap, Jack?; Creamy Pumpkins; Cycling; Giant: I Believe in Bugs; Mud; Pass the Ball, Jim ; Pickle Your Knees, Sleepy Old Snake; Life in A Scotch Sitting Room Vol 2
John Peel Sessions: https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/Ivor_Cutler
Philip Larkin poems referenced:
Bridge for the Living, Aubade, Essential Beauty, Mr Bleaney, Church Going
The Sunday Sessions (Faber and Faber, 1980)
The Selected Letters of Philip Larkin ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 1993)
Letters to Monica by Philip Larkin ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 2011)
Read more about Brunette Coleman in Trouble at Willow Gables and Other Fictions ed. James Booth (Faber and Faber, 2002)
Other cultural references
Centipede (band), John Peel, The Fall, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Albert Ammonds, Miles Davis, Robert Wyatt, Spike Milligan, The Goons, John Betjeman, John Cooper Clark, Van Morrison, Linton Kwesi Johnson Forces of Victory (1979), Harold Pinter, Charlie Parker, Neil Ardley, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Sidney Bechet.
Interludes â Thelonious Monk (Round Midnight and Thelonius)
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
PLS Membership and information: The Philip Larkin Society â Philip Larkin
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
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This episode welcomes three Larkin100 trustees to look back on 2022; Graham Chesters, Phil Pullen, and teacher, writer and poet Vicky Foster who has a very particular connection to Hull and the work of Philip Larkin.
Vicky Foster Poet Hull
Please watch and subscribe; https://www.youtube.com/@thephiliplarkinsociety1930/featured
PLS Membership and information: The Philip Larkin Society â Philip Larkin
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.
Follow us and get it touch on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tiny_air
Find out more about the Philip Larkin Society here - http://philiplarkin.com/
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This episode features Belfast arts manager Hugh Odling- Smee and PLS trustee Philip Pullen who, as part of his centenary lecture tour, took part in the 2022 Belfast International Arts Festival with a talk on Larkin in Belfast. Hugh and Phil discuss the literary heritage that Belfast enjoys and Larkinâs life in Belfast between 1950 and 1955.
Books and writers discussed:
A Rumoured City: New Poets from Hull by Douglas Dunn (Editor), Philip Larkin (foreword), (Bloodaxe, 1982)
Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse ed. Philip Larkin (OUP, 1973)
Andrew Motion- Larkin A Writerâs Life (Faber, 2018)
Belfast poets: John Hewitt (1907-1987), Louis MacNeice (1907-1963)
Brian Moore (1921-1999)- The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (HarperCollins 1955), (Harper Perennial Modern Classics series, 2007 re-issue)/film version dir. Jack Clayton (1987)
Odd Man Out (1945)- FL Green
The Importance of Elsewhere- Richard Bradford (Frances Lincoln, 2015)
Letters to Monica by Philip Larkin ed. Antony Thwaite (Faber, 2011)
Larkin poems:
The Less Deceived (Faber 1955)
The Importance of Elsewhere, Maiden Name, Absences, Single to Belfast (unpublished during lifetime), Water, Church Going, Mr Bleaney, Lines on a Young Ladyâs Photograph Album, Reasons for Attendance
Philip Pullen âs Belfast talk : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxbKmDJUOH4 The Importance of Elsewhere - Philip Pullen presentation, Belfast International Arts Festival 2022
Larkin100 events: https://philiplarkin.com/news/larkin100-whats-coming-up/
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.
Follow us and get it touch on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tiny_air
Find out more about the Philip Larkin Society here -
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Daniel Vince joined the PLS board of trustees earlier this year and is currently studying for a Masters by research on the post-war novel at the University of York having graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University earlier this year. He is also an antiquarian book seller and can often be found hunting down rare and wonderful books. When the Barbara Pym Society invited a member of the PLS to present a paper at their AGM in Oxford this year, Daniel bravely took up the challenge. Daniel speaks to Lyn and reads his talk A Few Green Leaves: Pym, Larkin and Rural Retirement.
Larkin texts referenced: Aubade, Money, Spring, Here, Toads, The Mower, Cut Grass, High Windows, The Importance of Elsewhere, A Girl In Winter (Faber 1947)
Barbara Pym novels: A Few Green Leaves, A Quartet in Autumn, The Sweet Dove Died
Other writers/references: Ending Up by Kingsley Amis, The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, Hippopotamus by TS Eliot,
Further reading: The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne (2021) A Very Private Eye: The Diaries, Letters And Notebooks Of Barbara Pym ed. Hazel Holt (Macmillan 1984)
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.
Follow us and get it touch on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tiny_air
Find out more about the Philip Larkin Society here - http://philiplarkin.com/
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Dr Sam Perry teaches English Literature at the University of Hull, where he is a member of the Philip Larkin Centre for Poetry & Creative Writing. He is the author of Chameleon Poet: R.S. Thomas and the Literary Tradition (Oxford University Press) and is currently working on a long- term project exploring the representation of children and childhood in modern poetry.
Other writers discussed/mentioned: WB Yeats/Ted Hughes/Edward Thomas/ RS Thomas/Seamus Heaney/ William Wordsworth/William Blake/ Thomas Hardy/ Dylan Thomas /Charles Dickens/JD Salinger/Virginia Woolf/Kingsley Amis/Sylvia Plath/Ann Thwaite
Larkin poems discussed: Sunny Prestatyn/ Essential Beauty/The Large Cool Store/ Mr Bleaney/Aubade/Home is So Sad/ Wild Oats/ Dockery and Son/Ignorance/Afternoons/An Arundel Tomb/ I Remember, I Remember/ This Be The Verse/High Windows
Other references: Jim Suttonâs letters to Philip Larkin/The art of Rene Magritte (1898-1967)/Larkinâs Doodles/Letters to Monica Ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber 2011)/The Secret Garden - Francis Hodgson Burnett (Heinemann 1911)/The Image of Childhood- Peter Coveney (Penguin 1967)
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.
Follow us and get it touch on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tiny_air
Find out more about the Philip Larkin Society here - http://philiplarkin.com/
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Welcome to a very special episode of Tiny In All That Air, celebrating Philip Larkin's 100th birthday. This episode has been made with the generous help of many of our fantastic honorary vice presidents, who have many different connections with Philip Larkin, the man and the writer: former secretary of State for Health and Social care, Alan Johnson; Larkin biographer, friend and literary executor Andrew Motion; writer David Quantick; writer Ann Thwaite; academic and magician Dale Salwak; artist Grayson Perry; poet Imtiaz Dharker; sculptor Martin Jennings; writer Blake Morrison; Professor James Booth; founding chairman Professor Eddie Dawes; and our current chair Rosie Millard. Thank you so much to all our HVPs past and present for all their support of the society and thank you to you for listening.
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.
Follow us and get it touch on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tiny_air
Find out more about the Philip Larkin Society here - http://philiplarkin.com/
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This is the King Henry VIII School, Coventry takeover! Led by the school's Librarian and Archivist Helen Cooper, and introduced by former Head of English Sheila Woolf, the pupils of Larkin's former school in Coventry have recorded a fascinating short fictional play written by Fred Holland that explores the Larkin family during Word War II. Helen Cooper and Phil Pullen (Chair of Larkin100 and Larkin researcher) join Lyn to discuss the writing and performance of the play, as well as exploring the play's many themes- family life, gender identity, jazz music, the destruction of Coventry, the rise of fascism and pre-war Germany. The performance also includes full readings of three very relevant Larkin poems.
Also profound thanks to Dan Balcam, the Schoolâs Performing Arts Technician who recorded the performance and added the sound effects, and Sheila Woolf for her help with the adaptation of the play and her introduction explaining its history. Most of all, however, thank you very much indeed to the cast of Year 12 and Year 13 pupils who found time in their busy schedules to perform the play:
Clemi Andrews: Eva Larkin
Leong Yi Au: Narrator #2
Ben Cartwright: Philip Larkin
Simran Cheema: Narrator #1
Aston McKeown: Captain Stanley Hector, Chief Constable of Coventry
Ocean: Sydney Larkin, Coventry City Treasurer
Adam Price: Roger Smythe
Poems: Ultimatum, This Be the Verse, Snow In April, For Sidney Bechet
Other texts and references:
Sir Oswald Mosley, Sir Barry Domvile, Diana Mitford, Peaky Blinders (2013-2022 BBC), James Booth Life, Art and Love (2014, Bloomsbury), Trouble at Willow Gables and Other Fictions (Faber & Faber 2015), Andrew Motion Philip Larkin A Writer's Life (Faber 1993)
Selected letters of Philip Larkin (1993, Faber & Faber) Barbara Pym Some Tame Gazelle (1950, Virago Modern Classics), Julia Boyd Travellers in the Third Reich (2018,Elliott & Thompson Limited)
John Kenyon's article about Philip Larkin can be read here
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/larkin_at_hull_jkenyon.pdf
This podcast is one of the many Centenary events that celebrate 100 years since the birth of Philip Larkin, run by the Philip Larkin Society and Larkin 100.
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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 editing by Simon Galloway.
Follow us and get it touch on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tiny_air
Find out more about the Philip Larkin Society here - http://philiplarkin.com/
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