Lyn and Chris discuss the recent writing workshop run by the Philip Larkin Society called Drafting a World: a Poetry Writing Workshop inspired by the poetry of Philip Larkin, with Nottingham based writer Jane Bluett at the Avenues in Hull on Saturday 11th October at ArtLink. Chris reads his new Larkin poem from the workshop, Father of the Bride and we talk about the power of using Larkinalia and Larkin’s words to inspire us. We also discuss the treasures to be found in About Larkin, Maurice Rutherford, the upcoming PLS Book Club and Jill, and the upcoming Stage4Beverley music and literature festival, for which Chris is festival poet, our shared love of yarnbombing and the (very small) PLS Makers Society. We also look ahead to the 2026 PLS Conference March 19-20th.
Larkin texts discussed
The Whitsun Weddings, High Windows, Water, Toads Revisited, Jill, A Girl In Winter, Required Writing, For Sidney Bechet
Other writers/texts mentioned:
Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954), Maurice Rutherford Here 2012, (from Under Travelling Skies ed. Cliff Forshaw) (2012) An Enormous Yes (Peterloo Poets, 1986), Wendy Cope Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis (Faber and Faber 1986), Barbara Pym,Ted Hughes, Kingsley Amis, TS Eliot, Saltburn (dir. Emerald Fennell, 2023), Brian Bilston, Simon Armitage, Alan Johnson
Reading/references:
'Fifty Years On: Bringing 'The Whitsun Weddings' to Life: A performance by Ensemble 52: 6 June 2014. A report is on page 14 of this pdf of the society's journal: About Larkin...About-Larkin-38.pdf.
Wendy Cope
the poem, Mr Strugnell, is featured in Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis (Faber & Faber, 1986)
About Larkin 15- featuring article by Sean O’Brien and Wendy Cole’s interview with Larkin’s neighbours at 32 Pearson Park
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-15.pdf
Maurice Rutherford
https://www.thehullstory.com/allarticles/maurice-rutherford-obituary
Stage 4 Beverley
Festival Poet - Chris Sewart – Stage 4 Beverley Festival Poet, in association with The Philip Larkin Society - Stage 4 Beverley
Tickets and line-up - Stage 4 Beverley
Artlink.
Venue for PLS poetry Writing Workshops: Artlink Hull
Chris Sewart Society of Authors profile page:
Chris Sewart - The Society of Authors
Some of Chris's recent poems can be found/purchased at:
Echoes - 20 years of Write Out Loud | Write Out Loud
The Fig Tree - Issue 9 - by Tim Fellows - The Fig Tree
The Fig Tree - Issue 10 - by Tim Fellows - The Fig Tree
The Fig Tree Coal Mining Anthology - Shop – Crooked Spire Press
The Leaf, issue 2 - The Leaf issue 2 | Three Blue Beans
Please register to attend the PLS Conference 2026 here (currently at an Early Bird rate)
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1727992314529?aff=oddtdtcreator
Hull History Centre Larkin event on November 15th- art workshop followed by talk on Ted Tarling- please purchase your tickets here and come along
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1761076670729?aff=oddtdtcreator
Music:
Henry Allen Feeling Drowsy (1929)
Theme music:
The Horns of the Morning by Wes Finch and the Mechanicals Band
https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg and https://www.podmachine.com/
Please email Lyn at plsdeputychair@gmail.com with any questions or comments
PLS Membership, events, merchandise and information: philiplarkin.com
