To mark Halloween, Lyn takes us on a walk around her local cemetery and reads Ghosts by Philip Larkin.
Thank you to Joe Riley for inspiration - please listen to his excellent in situ poetry podcast Sketch Poetry
https://open.spotify.com/show/4Ubm0zfLmjrOqVqMWulgf0
Spooky music- thank you to https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-music/download/ghost-stories/1291
Read the poem here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Poetry/comments/ernxrt/poem_ghosts_by_philip_larkin/
or
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Poems-Philip-Larkin/dp/0571240062
The Complete Poems of Philip Larkin ed. Archie Burnett (Faber and Faber, 2012)
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
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
Daniel Seifert is a journalist and editor who has written for the New York Times, National Geographic and BBC. His poems have appeared in Poetry Wales, Rattle and Terrain. He lives in Singapore, and tweets @DanSeifwrites.
Larkin poems discussed:
The Mower, The Trees, Two Guitar Pieces, Broadcast ,For Sidney Bechet, Reference Back, Days, If My Darling
Poets mentioned:
Seamus Heaney, John Betjeman, Emily Dickinson, TS Eliot Selected Poems (Prufrock, The Wasteland, Rhapsody on a Windy Night)
When You Are Levitated by Daniel Seifert
Anthony Thwaite- Collected Poems
Archie Burnett- Complete Poems
James Booth- Life, Art and Love
Philip Larkin- Jill
The London Magazine
Father Ted https://www.channel4.com/programmes/father-ted
John Robins https://www.johnrobins.com/
NW Rowe Philip Larkin:Art and Self Five (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) Larkin and the Creepy
Music:
Petit Fleur (Sidney Bechet) played by Monty Sunshine
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 Podmachine
Please email Lyn at plsdeputychair@gmail.com with any questions or comments
PLS Membership, events, merchandise and information: philiplarkin.com
This year we celebrate Larkin’s birthday and the 70 year anniversary of the publication of The Less Deceived with a full reading of Larkin's second collection.
We begin with an introduction to the collection with regular attendees of the podcast, our chair Graham Chesters and trustee Philip Pullen, and we reflect on some of the history of the publication of The Less Deceived.
Thank you to all the people that have helped produce this podcast.
A special thank you to our chair Rosie Millard, who was of enormous help with making the recording of Sir Tom Courtenay reading Church Going.
Readers:
Lines on a Young Lady's Photograph Album Philip Pullen
Wedding-Wind Lynn Harrison
Places, Loved Ones Julia Munrow
Coming Brian Bilston
Reasons for Attendance Daniel Wain
Dry Point Michael Egan
Next, Please Dr Andrew Palmer
Going Greg Sestero
Wants Joe Malago
Maiden Name Mary Mccollum
Born Yesterday Cate Blanchett
Whatever Happened? Melissa Dennison
No Road Hannah Sullivan
Wires David Biespiel
Church Going Sir Tom Courtenay
Age Dr Jane Bluett
Myxomatosis Daniel Vince
Toads Justine Gaubert
Poetry of Departures Prof Douglas Bell
Triple Time Jacqueline Baron
Spring Cate Blanchett
Deceptions Hannah Sullivan
I Remember, I Remember Brian Bilston
Absences Sinead Morrissey
Latest Face Gerry Skeens
If, My Darling Alex Howard
Skin Marco Pirroni
Arrivals, Departures Jeremy Wikeley
At Grass Julian Wild
References:
Early Larkin by James Underwood (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021)
Pretending to Be Me by Tom Courtenay (2003) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pretending-Be-Me-Philip-Portrait/dp/1405500824
Jean Hartley- Philip Larkin, The Marvell Press and Me (Faber, 2011)
Philip Larkin, Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014)
TS Eliot- The Four Quartets (Faber, 1941)
On First Looking into Larkin’s The Less Deceived A T Tolley 2 The paper first delivered at the 2003 Conference https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-18.pdf
The background to the article in the Beverlonian that Graham refers to is referenced in Philip Pullen’s piece in About Larkin 45 about the Beverley walk
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-45.pdf
https://rosiemillard.substack.com/p/what-will-survive-of-us
Music:
Home Cooking by Eddie Condon and his Orchestra from the Larkin’s Jazz box set, 2010 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jul/22/various-artists-larkins-jazz-review
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, Simon Galloway and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at plsdeputychair@gmail.com with any questions or comments
PLS Membership, events, merchandise and information: philiplarkin.com
Our guest today is writer Ralph Dartford who works for the National Literacy Trust and is the poetry editor of literary journal Northern Gravy. Ralph kindly made the journey from Bradford to the Lockwood residence in Sheffield, and we settled down in my living room with mugs of tea and a plate of biscuits, surrounded by books and looked down upon by at least three pictures of Larkin.
Ralph also co-organises the fantastic Louder Than Words festival that takes place in Manchester every autumn, and is a celebration of writing about music. They gather together amazing writers, broadcasters and musicians to discuss, explore and debate all things music and music industry related. I hope we will continue to see Ralph at more PLS events.
Larkin poems mentioned:
The Whitsun Weddings, Dockery and Son, Mr Bleaney, For Sidney Bechet, High Windows, Cut Grass, To The Sea, MCMXIV, Here, Broadcast
All What Jazz: A Record Diary 1961-1971 (1985) by Philip Larkin
The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse - ed. Philip Larkin (1973)
I am happy to see Mr. Larkin's taste in poetry and my own are in agreement ... I congratulate him most warmly on his achievement. - W. H. Auden, The Guardian
Poets/writers/musicians mentioned by Ralph
Kae Tempest, Joelle Taylor, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Vicky Foster, Steve Ely, Chris Jones, Ian Parks, John Betjeman, John Cooper Clarke, John Hegley, Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Michael Stewart, Blake Morrison, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Sidney Bechet, Alan Bennett, Stewart Lee, David Quantick, Ray Davis, Blur, Van Morrison, Hang Clouds, Evelyn Glennie, Kingsley Amis, Andrea Dunbar, Helen Mort
Other references:
Adlestrop (1914) by Edward Thomas https://www.edwardthomaspoetryplaces.com/post/adlestrop
Arthur Scargill: “Arthur Scargill, the miners’ leader and socialist, once told The Sunday Times, ‘My father still reads the dictionary every day. He says your life depends on your power to master words.” Martin H. Manser, The Penguin Writer's Manual
Bob Monkhouse https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/dec/30/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries
Longbarrow Press https://longbarrowpress.com/
Valley Press https://www.valleypressuk.com/
Kes (1968) by Barry Hines
Ralph is Poetry Editor for Northern Gravy https://northerngravy.com/
Ralph reads Geese and England’s Dreaming from House Anthems https://www.valleypressuk.com/shop/p/house-anthems
Gareth Southgate https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-57816651
Simon Armitage Larkin Revisited Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m0019yy2
Nick Cave- Honorary Vice President for the Philip Larkin Society- Desert Island Discs https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0027cgl
Lyn’s English teacher 1982-1989 https://petercochran.wordpress.com/remembering-peter/
The Ted Hughes Network https://research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/tedhughes/
James Underwood https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/early-larkin-9781350197121/
Albums mentioned:
OK Computer (1997) by Radiohead , Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and The White Album (1968) by The Beatles, Park Life (1994) by Blur
Summertime in England by Van Morrison https://www.vice.com/en/article/summertime-in-england-a-monologue-on-van-morrison/
Events:
https://louderthanwordsfest.com/
"My Friend Monica": Remembering Philip Larkin's Partner Monica JonesSat 22 Mar 2025 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Ken Edwards Lecture Theatre 2, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/literaryleicester/1538331
A celebration marking 70 years of Philip Larkin's 'The Less Deceived'
For World Poetry Day
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-celebration-marking-70-years-of-philip-larkins-the-less-deceived-tickets-1235639173029?aff=oddtdtcreator
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at plsdeputychair@gmail.com with any questions or comments
PLS Membership, events, merchandise and information: philiplarkin.com
'It was not easy to find a poet in the United States in my reading,who wrote with the clarity and intelligence that Larkin possessed. I found him to be full of surprises..’
My guest today is writer David Biespiel who was born in Texas and who is now Poet in residence at Oregan state university. He has written for numerous publications and reviewed poetry for the Washington Post and the New York Times. He has taught creative writing at university across the US., has won many awards and published several books of his own poetry. In preparation for talking to David, he recommended that I have a look at his book A Long High Whistle: Selected Columns on Poetry, published in 2015, which is a collection of his pithy and fascinating articles on poets and poetry.
‘I love that they are slender, I love that they are pocket sized, the whole texture of them- the Faber books.’
Larkin poems mentioned:
Church Going, This Be The Verse, I Remember, I Remember, Dockery and Son, Talking In Bed, Sad Steps, Friday Night In the Royal Station Hotel, Broadcast, An Arundel Tomb, The Mower
Poets:
John Ashberry, Walt Whitman, TS Eliot, Thom Gunn, Keats, Chaucer, Donne, Elizabeth Bishop, Herbert, Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost, William Stafford,
Henry Allen
The Paris Review, Archie Burnett, Martin Amis and Anthony Thwaite collections, US/UK poetry, railway journeys, rhyme schemes, literary tours of UK/Italy
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-High-Whistle-David-Biespiel/dp/1938308107
“The past is never dead. It's not even past.” William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun (1950)
My guest today is Rishi Dastidar who is a poet and editor based in London. Rishi discusses his own particular view of Larkin’s portrayal of Englishness in both his letters and his poetry, Larkin’s contemporaries such as TS Eliot and Alan Bennett, and the vibrant role poetry plays in the UK’s cultural landscape.
Rishi Dastidar’s poetry has been published by the Financial Times, The Guardian and BBC and more. He is a fellow of The Complete Works, and a consulting editor at The Rialto magazine. A poem from his debut collection Ticker-tape was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2018, and his second collection, Saffron Jack, was published in the UK by Nine Arches Press in 2020. He is also editor of The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century (Nine Arches Press), and co-editor of Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different: Poems from Malika’s Poetry Kitchen (Corsair). He is the chair of the board of trustees for Wasafari Magazine.
Larkin poems discussed:
Poetry of Departures, Friday Night In the Royal Station Hotel, Afternoons, The Building, The Whitsun Weddings, Toads, Waiting for Breakfast
Other references:
Kingsley Amis, Alan Bennett, Ezra Pound
The Poetry Review, The New Yorker,
The Delinquent https://delinquentmagazine.bigcartel.com/,
Smiths Knoll magazine (https://poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/index190a.html?id=17),
The Faber Academy https://faberacademy.com/
The Love Song of J Alfred Prufock by TS Eliot (1915)
Wild God by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (2024 PIAS Recordings)
Sometimes a Wild God by Tom Hirons https://tomhirons.com/poetry/sometimes-a-wild-god (2017)
Neptune's Projects by Rishi Dastidur (2023)
https://ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/neptune-s-projects
Time by Pink Floyd ‘hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way’ from The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
George Best, footballer https://nostalgiacentral.com/pop-culture/people/george-best/
UK films/radio of the 1950s/60s:Passport to Pimlico, Whiskey Galore, The Goons, Kind Hearts and Coronets
Music:
Lazy River by Sidney Bechet
Time by Pink Floyd
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
Please email Lyn at plsdeputychair@gmail.com with any questions or comments
PLS Membership, events, merchandise and information: philiplarkin.com
Reading Larkin’s poetry
Eddie Dawes - The Trees (Aug 2022)
Graham Chesters- The First Thing (Aug 2021)
David Quantick - Days (Aug 22)
Imtiaz Dharker - Broadcast (Aug 22)
Martin Jennings - High Windows (Aug 24) Nominated by Graham Chesters
Hans Rutten introducing and reading An April Sunday Brings the Snow in English and Dutch (Aug 21)
Richard Johnson- Sad Steps (Aug 21)
Sally Button- To The Sea (Aug 21)
Joe Riley - Church Going (Aug 24)
Devon Allison- Cut Grass (Aug 24) Nominated by Chris Sewart
Andrew Motion- The Old Fools (Aug 2024)
Philip Pullen- Show Saturday (March 21)
Celebrating Larkin’s Contemporaries
Triona Adams reads the opening paragraph of Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women (April 22)
Zachary Leader with Julian Henry on the writing of Lucky Jim (nominated by Daniel Vince) (April 21)
Ann Thwaite reads Philip Larkin in New Orleans by Anthony Thwaite (May 24)
Enjoying Larkin Conversation
James Booth and Betty Mackereth- Just what did Betty make of Larkin’s poems? (June 24) (Nominated by Sally Button)
John Robins and Robin Allender- Captain Beefheart: Larkin fan. (March 22)
Rachael Galletly and Lyn Lockwood- A house full of Larkin (May 22)
Chris Sewart and Phil Pullen- Larkin and The White Album (Nov 23)
Rosie Millard and Lyn Lockwood - The wonders of Solar (Feb 24)
Music:
Monty Sunshine- Petit Fleur
Wes Finch and the Mechanicals Band - The Horns of the Morning and The Trees
Thank you to all the PLS Trustees, HVPs and members for their support and thank you to the huge support from our listeners and guests.
Produced by Simon Galloway, Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg.
Our guest today is Kate Romano. Kate is the CEO of arts centre Stapleford Granary which recently dedicated a whole weekend to celebrating many different aspects of Philip Larkin’s life, photography, jazz and poetry. Gavin and I were lucky enough to be able to head down there and enjoy the events as well as running a PLS stall in the middle of it all, talking about all things Larkin to the good people of Cambridgeshire. Kate joined me to reflect back on the weekend and what she learned about Larkin in the process as well as to look at Broadcast, The Mower, Church Going and Lines on a Young Lady’s photograph album in particular.
https://www.staplefordgranary.org.uk/whats-on/events
Michael Symmons Roberts https://symmonsroberts.com/
Wendy Cope https://www.faber.co.uk/author/wendy-cope/
John Betjeman- Death In Leamington
Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury, 2014)
The Importance of Elsewhere by Richard Bradford, with an introduction by Mark Howarth-Booth ( Frances Lincoln, 2015)
The Sunday Sessions https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571244058-the-sunday-sessions/
Monica Jones, Philip Larkin and Me: Her Life and Long Loves by John Sutherland (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2021)
Larkin poems discussed:
Lines on A Young Lady’s Photograph Album, Church Going, Broadcast, The Mower
Music:
Nobody’s Sweetheart; Mckenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans
One Hour: Mound City Blues Blowers
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at plsdeputychair@gmail.com with any questions or comments
PLS Membership, events, merchandise and information: philiplarkin.com
They might not meant to, but they do...
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is a lifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin's poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this final episode of the summer, Joe heads out with his daughter and reads This Be The Verse.
Please note this episode contains strong language.
Music: Feeling Drowsy by Henry Allen Junior and his Orchestra (1929)
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk with any questions, comments or suggestions.
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: The Horns of the Morning by the Mechanicals from their album The Righteous Jazz
Join Lyn Lockwood and Chris Sewart in Hull on 21st September for a Larkin inspired writing workshop
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/some-dappled-park-a-poetry-writing-workshop-inspired-by-philip-larkins-hull-tickets-940211757677?aff=oddtdtcreator
Today on the 9th August we celebrate Philip Larkin’s birthday and we read High Windows from start to end, in order to mark the 50th anniversary of Larkin’s final collection.
Philip Pullen and Graham Chesters chat to Lyn about High Windows.
Please note there is some strong language and challenging themes in the collection.
Poems and readers:
To the Sea- Lyn Lockwood Deputy Chair of the Philip Larkin Society
Sympathy in White Major- Dale Salwak Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, professor English, magician
The Trees-Carole Collinson Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
Livings: I, II, III-Clarissa Hard Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
Forget What Did- Gavin Hogg member of the Philip Larkin Society, writer, podcast host
High Windows- Martin Jennings Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, sculptor
Friday Night in the Royal Station Hotel -Alan Johnson Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, writer, former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Old Fools-Andrew Motion Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, writer, former Poet Laureate.
Going, Going-Kate Romano BBC Radio 3 producer, musician, CEO Stapleford Granary
The Card-Players-David Quantick Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, novelist, screenwriter.
The Building-Ann Thwaite Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, biographer.
Posterity-RM Healey founder member of the Alliance of Literary Societies
Dublinesque-Graham Chesters Chair of the Philip Larkin Society
Homage to a Government-Trevor Norwood Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
This Be The Verse-Chris Sewart member of the Philip Larkin Society, prize winning poet based in East Yorkshire
How Distant-Cath Sked member of the Philip Larkin Society, former English teacher, arts enthusiast.
Sad Steps-Blake Morrison Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, poet and novelist.
Solar-Rosie Millard President of the Philip Larkin Society, journalist, writer and broadcaster
Annus Mirabilis-Stewart Lee Honorary Vice President of the Philip Larkin Society, writer and comedian
Vers de Société-Rachael Galletly Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
Show Saturday-Philip Pullen Trustee of the Philip Larkin Society
Money-Simon Galloway, audio producer, podcast host
Cut Grass-Devon Allison Chair of the Barbara Pym Society
The Explosion-Vicky Foster member of the Philip Larkin Society, writer, performer, poet and teacher based in Hull
Some references and further reading:
Eugene Boudin - 1824-1898- French landscape painter who focused on the outdoors and particularly harbours and beaches.
It Happened Like This by Vicky Foster (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024)
The Old Fools Animation directed by Ruth Lingford, narrated by Bob Geldof https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376020/
We Peaked At Paper by Gavin Hogg and Hamish Ironside (Boatwhistle Books, 2022) https://www.boatwhistle.com/store/item/hogg--ironside-we-peaked-at-paper/
The Guardian review of High Windows https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/06/philip-larkin-poetry-high-windows-archive-1974
The Giddy Carousel of Pop presented by Simon Galloway and Gavin Hogg https://giddypoppod.home.blog/
Stewart Lee tour dates and news https://www.stewartlee.co.uk/
Martin Jennings public sculptor, Royal Coin https://martinjennings.com/
The Alliance of Literary Societies https://allianceofliterarysocieties.wordpress.com/
The Barbara Pym Society https://barbara-pym.org/
Sleeping on Islands: A Life In Poetry by Andrew Motion (Faber and Faber, 2023)
Two Sisters by Blake Morrison (The Borough Press, 2023)
Upcoming events
Please join Lyn Lockwood and Chris Ewart in Hull on 21st September 2024:
Larkin Weekend 13-15 September 2024 at Stapleford Granary
https://www.staplefordgranary.org.uk/whats-on/events/larkin-weekend
That Whitsun, I was late getting away:
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is a lifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin's poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode, Joe takes his seat on the 11.31 to London Waterloo and reads The Whitsun Weddings.
Music: Body and Soul by Coleman Hawkins and his Orchestra
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk with any questions, comments or suggestions.
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: The Horns of the Morning by the Mechanicals from their album The Righteous Jazz
Cut grass lies frail...
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is a lifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin's poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode, Joe ventures out on his school field to read and discuss Cut Grass from High Windows.
Music: Sidney Bechet - Si tu vous ma mere (Lonesome)
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk with any questions, comments or suggestions.
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
Theme music: The Horns of the Morning by the Mechanicals from their album The Righteous Jazz
Our guest today is Douglas Bell, Professor of English Language Education at the School of Education, University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China.
Professor Douglas Bell first joined us in April to talk about the 2024 Conference in Hull and kindly stayed on the line to talk to me more widely about Philip Larkin in China. We talk about the reading and translation of Larkin in China, as well as the use of persona and thematic readings of Larkin. We also talk about why Larkin is not a sexist poet, Larkin’s use of rhyme, using Larkin’s poetry to exemplify language teaching, and how Doug found delivering a lecture to many of thousands of Chinese students on Philip Larkin last year. Doug reads Faith Healing and Morning at Last There in the Snow and I read Wires.
Please note there are a few glitches in the sound at the beginning but they do ease off.
13-15th September, Stapleford Granary Larkin Weekend, with jazz music, talks and a photography display. Some of the events are free, some need to be booked.
https://www.staplefordgranary.org.uk/whats-on/events/larkin-weekend
Writing workshop with former Tiny guest and award winning poet Chris Sewart and podcast host Lyn Lockwood in Hull on Saturday 21st September. We will be based at Artlink on Princes Avenue and taking a gentle stroll around the Avenues and Pearson Park before coming back to the gallery for an afternoon of writing.. There are only 12 places available so if you’re interested you might want to get booking!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/940211757677?aff=oddtdtcreator
Poems mentioned:
The Whitsun Weddings/Church Going/To The Sea/Love Songs in Age/A Study of Reading Habits/ Faith Healing/MCMXIV/Here/Show Saturday/Heads in The Women’s Room/This Be The Verse/Talking In Bed/ Wild Oats/Dockery and Son/Days/ Morning At Last there in the snow/Wires/Wedding Wind/ Breadfruit/ Poetry of Departures/ Self’s the Man/Aubade
Warning by Jenny Joseph
Further reading and references:
Bell, D.E. (2023) The Poetry of Philip Larkin. Universal Themes Viewed Through a Peculiarly English Lens. Public lecture for Ningbo library delivered on September 23, 2023. A recording can be accessed at:
John Betjeman interviewing Philip Larkin in a 1964 episode of Monitor, which was a flagship arts programme on British tv during the 1950s and 1960s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coe11pgoj8E
David Quantick's keynote address at the PLS conference, 'Something more fidgety and various... 50 years of High Windows' at the University of Hull, 14th March 2024.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPQUTk6hUck
The Translation and Criticism of Philip Larkin’s poems in China Wan Furong, Zhang Yan
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AboutLarkin-49.pdf
Letters to Monica by Philip Larkin ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 2011)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Thomas Hardy (1892)
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff ( 1873 –1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor.
Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano.
Music: One Hour by Mound City Blue Blowers
Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg
Please email Lyn at lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk with any questions or comments
PLS Membership and information: philiplarkin.com
'Once I am sure there's nothing going on I step inside, letting the door thud shut...'
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is a lifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin’s poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode he explores Church Going from High Windows.
Music: Feeling Drowsy by Henry Allen Jr and His Orchestra Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk with any questions, comments or suggestions for more readings for the podcast.
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
Betty Mackereth was Philip Larkin’s secretary at the library at the University of Hull. They were work colleagues and good friends, growing closer and more intimate, as the years went on. Betty turns 100 on 27th June 2024.
We begin with Betty herself in conversation with James Booth when James was beginning his research into his biography of Philip Larkin . James calls her, Larkin’s ‘ageing muse of vitality’.
After this, we hear directly from James Booth who spoke Lyn and trustee Philip Pullen at James’s house earlier this year.
Thank you and special birthday wishes to Betty and thank you to Magnus Mackereth, Betty’s nephew, for giving us his blessing. Thanks again to James Booth and Philip Pullen and Simon Galloway for support with sound production.
Mary Judd -- See "'What fun we had in the early sixties!' Philip Larkin and Mary Wrench (Judd)" by James Booth, in About Larkin 45 (April 2018). Having appreciated The Less Deceived, Mary (b.1923) applied for a post as Assistant Librarian in Hull in 1956, wanting to see "what a poet is like". Larkin interviewed her himself, and flattered (and also intimidated) by her familiarity with his poetry, saw her off from Hull on the coach with the words "I hope you'll come". She fitted into the Library well, befriending Maeve Brennan and Betty Mackereth, took part in the momentous move of the library into its new building in 1959, and stayed until 1964. She married Stephen Judd and Larkin visited her in the hospital where she gave birth to her first daughter, Helen in 1962. Larkin became a conscientious long-distance godfather to Helen, and kept in touch with Mary, sending her cards and the occasional letter.
Suzanne Uniacke. (There is a village in County Cork called Uniacke. The Uniackes came over with the Conqueror. It's a rare name!) Suzanne was a Reader in the Philosophy Department in Hull from 2006 to 2013.
Pauline Dennison was a library colleague of Maeve Bennan. She cut a formidable figure in charge of the Issue Desk in the Brynmor Jones for many years.
Brenda Moon https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/31/brenda-moon-obituary
Don Lee Don was a trustee of the PLS for many years, and developed many Larkin walks in sites across the country that are still used today.
Ivor Maw Philip Pullen- My Friend Ivor Maw (About Larkin 42) https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-42.pdf
Poems mentioned:
Love Again, The Dance, I Am Jake Balakowsky, Morning at last there in the snow, When First We Faced, We Met at the end of the party, Aubade, Symphony in White Major, Oxford, Broadcast, Toads Revisited, The Large Cool Store
The Philip Larkin I Knew- Maeve Brennan (Manchester University Press, 2002)
Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love by James Booth (Bloomsbury, 2015)
Letters Home by Philip Larkin ed. James Booth (Faber, 2018)
The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkin’s Photographs by Richard Bradford (Francis Lincoln, 2015)
Philip Larkin Collected Poems ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber, 1988)
The Complete Poems of Philip Larkin ed. Archie Burnett (Faber, 2012)
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life by Andrew Motion (Faber, 1994)
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-35.pdf Early Days in Philip Larkin’s Library Betty Mackereth
https://philiplarkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/About-Larkin-25.pdf 'New Brooms' Philip Larkin Betty Mackereth
Philip Larkin and the Third Woman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRibIbHPAws
‘Former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion discovers an unseen and unpublished poem by Philip Larkin when he returns to Hull to meet one of the poet's former lovers. Speaking for the first time about her relationship with Larkin, Betty Mackereth reveals the man behind the famous poems.’
Cast: Andrew Motion
First episode date: 7 December 2010
Robbins report https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report
Music:
Laura - Sidney Bechet
Petit Fleur- Monty Sunshine
Reckless Blues- Bessie Smith
The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is a lifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin’s poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode he explores The Trees from High Windows
Music: In A Mellow Tone by Count Basie
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk with any questions, comments or suggestions for more readings for the podcast.
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
The mower stalled, twice...
Joe Riley, teacher and poet of no great renown, is a lifelong lover of Larkin. In this series he attempts to read some of Larkin’s poems in suitable places with his trusty tape recorder. In this episode he explores Larkin’s late poem The Mower.
Music: Just a Mood (A Blue Mood) by the Teddy Wilson Quartet
Produced by Lyn Lockwood, Gavin Hogg and Joe Riley
Please email Lyn at lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk with any questions, comments or suggestions for more readings for the podcast.
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
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 Larkin’s poems to the BCC and many publications in his work as an editor. Anthony was Larkin’s executor alongside Andrew Motion, and went on to edit Larkin’s 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 Anthony’s poems is shortly to be published by Baylor University Press entitled At The Garden’s 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- ‘Larkin sent the poem with a letter to Ann Thwaite dated 9 Feb 1980. The birthday was on 23 June 1980.’ (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 (Anthony’s 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 Writer’s 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 Dextor’s 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 lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk 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: 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) ‘One of those old-type natural fouled up guys’: A Comparative Investigation of Larkin’s poetic persona and voice in ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ and ‘High Windows’.
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 Larkin’s 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 Larkin’s 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 lynlockwood70@yahoo.co.uk 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
