Philip Larkin Society
@plsoc.bsky.social
Official account for the Philip Larkin Society at PhilipLarkin.com, promoting the work of Philip Larkin.
Betty Mackereth, Philip Larkin's feisty long term secretary, immortalised in the 1962 poems Toads Revisited, has passed away today aged 101. Betty was a great supporter of the Philip Larkin Society. We send our condolences to her family.
November 20, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Betty Mackereth, Philip Larkin's feisty long term secretary, immortalised in the 1962 poems Toads Revisited, has passed away today aged 101. Betty was a great supporter of the Philip Larkin Society. We send our condolences to her family.
Drawing and (Ted) Tarling day this Saturday at Hull History Centre, starting at 11. Two events inspired by Phillip Larkin. Search for the Philip Larkin Society on Eventbrite for booking details.
November 11, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Drawing and (Ted) Tarling day this Saturday at Hull History Centre, starting at 11. Two events inspired by Phillip Larkin. Search for the Philip Larkin Society on Eventbrite for booking details.
A great evening at the Stage 4 Beverley taster event at East Riding Theatre featuring singer-songwriter Danny Bradley and poet Chris Sewart. We are delighted to be supporting Chris as Festival Poet at this fantastic festival in February 2026
November 9, 2025 at 2:22 PM
A great evening at the Stage 4 Beverley taster event at East Riding Theatre featuring singer-songwriter Danny Bradley and poet Chris Sewart. We are delighted to be supporting Chris as Festival Poet at this fantastic festival in February 2026
If you are heading over to the University of Hull campus today you will see this eye catching signage advertising our conference in March 2026. If you are interested in taking part as a speaker, please message us and we will send you the call for papers.
November 8, 2025 at 10:37 AM
If you are heading over to the University of Hull campus today you will see this eye catching signage advertising our conference in March 2026. If you are interested in taking part as a speaker, please message us and we will send you the call for papers.
Happy Halloween from the Tiny in All That Air team, including Maggie the sprocker. Please head over to the podcast for an exploration of one of Larkin's less well known poems.
October 31, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Happy Halloween from the Tiny in All That Air team, including Maggie the sprocker. Please head over to the podcast for an exploration of one of Larkin's less well known poems.
A very cheerful and thoughtful Meet the Members Zoom event last night. We discussed the new PLS book club, suitable images for new merchandise, Larkin's ties, Larkin the prose writer and a potential new fiction genre of Larkin Noir and the Case of the Stolen Painting (of sheep).
October 21, 2025 at 4:05 PM
A very cheerful and thoughtful Meet the Members Zoom event last night. We discussed the new PLS book club, suitable images for new merchandise, Larkin's ties, Larkin the prose writer and a potential new fiction genre of Larkin Noir and the Case of the Stolen Painting (of sheep).
Thank you to Joy and Jim at the legendary KallKwik printers in Hull for producing another high quality booklet for our poetry event.
October 13, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Thank you to Joy and Jim at the legendary KallKwik printers in Hull for producing another high quality booklet for our poetry event.
Lovely day for the Avenues walk and writing workshop with Lyn Lockwood and Jane Bluett. The Avenues and Pearson Park looked splendid in the autumn sunshine, and Jane's writing guidance produced all kinds of fascinating responses to Larkin. Thank you to all our attendees and the excellent Artlink.
October 12, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Lovely day for the Avenues walk and writing workshop with Lyn Lockwood and Jane Bluett. The Avenues and Pearson Park looked splendid in the autumn sunshine, and Jane's writing guidance produced all kinds of fascinating responses to Larkin. Thank you to all our attendees and the excellent Artlink.
Comes autumn, and I am clasping up leaves, leaving as many behind. My central (ha ha!) heating is on the blink every 48 hours- I say ha ha! because it never warms the periphery- and I am fed [up] to the teeth with it.
Letter to Judy Egerton, 3 November 1974.
Letter to Judy Egerton, 3 November 1974.
October 12, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Comes autumn, and I am clasping up leaves, leaving as many behind. My central (ha ha!) heating is on the blink every 48 hours- I say ha ha! because it never warms the periphery- and I am fed [up] to the teeth with it.
Letter to Judy Egerton, 3 November 1974.
Letter to Judy Egerton, 3 November 1974.
'Swerving east,' on the train from Sheffield to Hull this morning, the Humber Bridge looking as splendid as ever.
October 10, 2025 at 10:11 AM
'Swerving east,' on the train from Sheffield to Hull this morning, the Humber Bridge looking as splendid as ever.
The Times (4/10/25) on the new Archbishop of Canterbury: concluding churches are 'precious places which offer opportunities for consolation, reflection and reverence of the kind so beautifully described by Larkin, "A serious house on serious earth it is ... And that much never can be obsolete".
October 9, 2025 at 5:23 AM
The Times (4/10/25) on the new Archbishop of Canterbury: concluding churches are 'precious places which offer opportunities for consolation, reflection and reverence of the kind so beautifully described by Larkin, "A serious house on serious earth it is ... And that much never can be obsolete".
‘I stopped at Wawne & poked about in the churchyard, turning up chestnuts in the grass, & noting George Beulah, who had outlived two wives before dying in 1909. All three have identical tall stones.’ Philip Larkin to Monica Jones, 23 October 1962
October 7, 2025 at 7:32 AM
‘I stopped at Wawne & poked about in the churchyard, turning up chestnuts in the grass, & noting George Beulah, who had outlived two wives before dying in 1909. All three have identical tall stones.’ Philip Larkin to Monica Jones, 23 October 1962
#NationalPoetryDay this year's theme is 'play'
And dark-clothed children at play
Called after kings and queens,
The tin advertisements
For cocoa and twist, and the pubs
Wide open all day;
MCMXIV, 1964
And dark-clothed children at play
Called after kings and queens,
The tin advertisements
For cocoa and twist, and the pubs
Wide open all day;
MCMXIV, 1964
October 2, 2025 at 1:10 PM
#NationalPoetryDay this year's theme is 'play'
And dark-clothed children at play
Called after kings and queens,
The tin advertisements
For cocoa and twist, and the pubs
Wide open all day;
MCMXIV, 1964
And dark-clothed children at play
Called after kings and queens,
The tin advertisements
For cocoa and twist, and the pubs
Wide open all day;
MCMXIV, 1964
This empty street, this sky to blandness scoured,
This air, a little indistinct with autumn
Like a reflection, constitute the present-
(Triple Time, from The Less Deceived)
This air, a little indistinct with autumn
Like a reflection, constitute the present-
(Triple Time, from The Less Deceived)
September 30, 2025 at 2:10 PM
This empty street, this sky to blandness scoured,
This air, a little indistinct with autumn
Like a reflection, constitute the present-
(Triple Time, from The Less Deceived)
This air, a little indistinct with autumn
Like a reflection, constitute the present-
(Triple Time, from The Less Deceived)
'...one never gets any better at writing: never has any idea of how the thing is done, not like making a window frame or seducing women. Or at least I don't.'
(Letter to Douglas Dunn, 15 September 1972)
(Letter to Douglas Dunn, 15 September 1972)
September 29, 2025 at 4:54 PM
'...one never gets any better at writing: never has any idea of how the thing is done, not like making a window frame or seducing women. Or at least I don't.'
(Letter to Douglas Dunn, 15 September 1972)
(Letter to Douglas Dunn, 15 September 1972)
John Kemp starts his frst term at Oxford in Larkin's novel, Jill, set in 1940, published in 1946. Jill will be one of the topics of the PLS Conference 2026 March 19-20th.
'His whole appearance lacked luxuriance. Only his silky hair, soft as a seeding thistle, gave him an air of beauty.'
'His whole appearance lacked luxuriance. Only his silky hair, soft as a seeding thistle, gave him an air of beauty.'
September 28, 2025 at 11:32 AM
John Kemp starts his frst term at Oxford in Larkin's novel, Jill, set in 1940, published in 1946. Jill will be one of the topics of the PLS Conference 2026 March 19-20th.
'His whole appearance lacked luxuriance. Only his silky hair, soft as a seeding thistle, gave him an air of beauty.'
'His whole appearance lacked luxuriance. Only his silky hair, soft as a seeding thistle, gave him an air of beauty.'
Today #Railway200 celebrates 200 years of the modern rail service. Larkin travels by train in I Remember, I Remember, Dockery and Son and, of course, The Whitsun Weddings
All afternoon, through the tall heat that slept
For miles inland,
A slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.
All afternoon, through the tall heat that slept
For miles inland,
A slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.
September 27, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Today #Railway200 celebrates 200 years of the modern rail service. Larkin travels by train in I Remember, I Remember, Dockery and Son and, of course, The Whitsun Weddings
All afternoon, through the tall heat that slept
For miles inland,
A slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.
All afternoon, through the tall heat that slept
For miles inland,
A slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.
I listen to money singing. It’s like looking down
From long french windows at a provincial town,
The slums, the canal, the churches ornate and mad
In the evening sun. It is intensely sad.
( From Money, 1974)
From long french windows at a provincial town,
The slums, the canal, the churches ornate and mad
In the evening sun. It is intensely sad.
( From Money, 1974)
September 24, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I listen to money singing. It’s like looking down
From long french windows at a provincial town,
The slums, the canal, the churches ornate and mad
In the evening sun. It is intensely sad.
( From Money, 1974)
From long french windows at a provincial town,
The slums, the canal, the churches ornate and mad
In the evening sun. It is intensely sad.
( From Money, 1974)
Congratulations to Philip Larkin fan @cmatbaby.bsky.social with her Mercury Music Awards nomination.
September 19, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Congratulations to Philip Larkin fan @cmatbaby.bsky.social with her Mercury Music Awards nomination.
Looking for some weekend reading? Our Honorary Vice Presidents Nick Cave, Ann Thwaite, Stewart Lee and David Quantick can help with that.
September 19, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Looking for some weekend reading? Our Honorary Vice Presidents Nick Cave, Ann Thwaite, Stewart Lee and David Quantick can help with that.
Now I believe your staggering skirmishes
In train, tutorial and telephone booth,
The wife whose husband watched away matches
While she behaved so badly in a bath,
And all the rest who beckon from that world
Described on Sundays only...
(Letter to A Friend About Girls, began 1957, completed 1970)
In train, tutorial and telephone booth,
The wife whose husband watched away matches
While she behaved so badly in a bath,
And all the rest who beckon from that world
Described on Sundays only...
(Letter to A Friend About Girls, began 1957, completed 1970)
September 14, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Now I believe your staggering skirmishes
In train, tutorial and telephone booth,
The wife whose husband watched away matches
While she behaved so badly in a bath,
And all the rest who beckon from that world
Described on Sundays only...
(Letter to A Friend About Girls, began 1957, completed 1970)
In train, tutorial and telephone booth,
The wife whose husband watched away matches
While she behaved so badly in a bath,
And all the rest who beckon from that world
Described on Sundays only...
(Letter to A Friend About Girls, began 1957, completed 1970)
Want to know the link between Philip Larkin's poetry and Father Ted? Have a listen to our latest podcast.
podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/d...
podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/d...
September 12, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Want to know the link between Philip Larkin's poetry and Father Ted? Have a listen to our latest podcast.
podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/d...
podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/d...
Fancy answering back to Larkin? Nottingham based poet Jane Bluett (She Will Allow Her Wings) will be exploring, and challenging, Larkin's poetry in our workshop at ArtLink, Princes Avenue, Hull on 11th October 2025. Search for 'Drafting A World' at www.eventbrite.co.uk to book your place.
September 11, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Fancy answering back to Larkin? Nottingham based poet Jane Bluett (She Will Allow Her Wings) will be exploring, and challenging, Larkin's poetry in our workshop at ArtLink, Princes Avenue, Hull on 11th October 2025. Search for 'Drafting A World' at www.eventbrite.co.uk to book your place.
The northern sky rose high and black
Over the proud unfruitful sea...
(From The North Ship by Philip Larkin, 1945)
Over the proud unfruitful sea...
(From The North Ship by Philip Larkin, 1945)
September 11, 2025 at 2:35 PM
The northern sky rose high and black
Over the proud unfruitful sea...
(From The North Ship by Philip Larkin, 1945)
Over the proud unfruitful sea...
(From The North Ship by Philip Larkin, 1945)