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Philip Larkin Society

@plsoc.bsky.social
918 followers 662 following 391 posts

Official account for the Philip Larkin Society at PhilipLarkin.com, promoting the work of Philip Larkin.

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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This is going to be an excellent day- a new event from the PLS on 24th October, led by PLS Trustee Dr Anna Stevenson and writer Chris Sewart. Two fully funded places available for full time students. Grab your notepad and pencil, book your place, and come along! www.eventbrite.com/e/larkin-at-...
eventbrite.com
Larkin At The Library: A Poetry Writing Workshop
Come and join us at the Philip Larkin Society’s third poetry writing workshop at the Brynmor Jones Library, University of Hull.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
A fascinating piece about Philip Larkin at the Brynmor Jones Library. libraryblog.wordpress.hull.ac.uk/2025/05/30/a...
libraryblog.wordpress.hull.ac.uk
'A Lifted Study-Storehouse': Philip Larkin and the Brynmor Jones Library - Brynmor Jones Library Blog
By day, a lifted study-storehouse; night   Converts it to a flattened cube of light.   Whichever’s shown, the symbol is the same:   Knowledge; a University; a name. Philip Larkin (1983). ‘On the Brynm...
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Philip Pullen @philippullen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Looking forward to talking about Philip Larkin’s connections with Beverley and East Yorkshire at St Mary’s Church, Beverley at 7.30. Friday 2nd October @plsoc.bsky.social
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
National Poetry Day seems like a good excuse to share one of Larkin's most loved poems, a deceptively complex and resonant piece of writing.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A new podcast episode is available now, ahead of our writing workshop hosted by Anna and poet and Chris Sewart. Please enjoy! Dr Anna Stevenson at the Brynm…–Tiny In All That Air – Apple Podcasts share.google/6i7uHYXQxqzp...
share.google
Dr Anna Stevenson at the Brynmor Jones Library
Podcast Episode · Tiny In All That Air · 28 September · 28min
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There are 2 fully funded places available for this event. Please message us if you are a full time student and would like to take up one of the places.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Happy Birthday to our fantastic Honorary Vice President, writer, musician and artist, Nick Cave. In his Red Hand Files blog in 2019 Nick listed Philip Larkin as one of his most loved poets, alongside Stevie Smith, WH Auden and Thomas Hardy.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
www.eventbrite.com/e/larkin-at-...
eventbrite.com
Larkin At The Library: A Poetry Writing Workshop
Come and join us at the Philip Larkin Society’s third poetry writing workshop at the Brynmor Jones Library, University of Hull.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
‘I do feel defensive about that Bechet line: have they never heard the Beatles singing ‘She loves you – yeah, yeah, yeah—’? Or read the end of Molly Bloom’s soliloquy? Why is it so bad? I thought when I wrote it that it just ‘got’ love & Bechet & everything. Perhaps that’s what’s wrong with it!’
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
‘Walking With Words, a poetic stroll through Beverley’. Part of the East Yorkshire Walking Festival. Larkin got more than a mention of course, thanks to @philippullen.bsky.social and @chriswriting.bsky.social
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
‘Poems On Location’ from Gladstone’s Library. What better poem to read than ‘New Eyes Each Year’ youtu.be/tqjOrElA8hQ?...
youtu.be
New Eyes Each Year
YouTube video by The Philip Larkin Society
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
From our YouTube series, Poems On Location, Chris Sewart reads Larkin’s poem ‘Party Politics’ from St Deiniol’s Church in North Wales youtu.be/lBWlE8DFvdo?...
youtu.be
Party Politics
YouTube video by The Philip Larkin Society
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
If you would like to watch trustee Philip Pullen talk about Larkin's view of birthdays (his own and other peoples), it is available now on our YouTube channel. Phil uses AI magic to show Larkin as you have never seen him before at the end- please enjoy! youtu.be/61rr3rEiGsg?...
youtu.be
The Philip Larkin Society Birthday Zoom 2026
YouTube video by The Philip Larkin Society
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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Philip Larkin outside the University of Hull, 1979, photo by Jane Bown.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Our next event is our members Zoom Book Club- this time we are discussing LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis. Please come along- the Zoom link is in our recent members emails, and we will send out again before the day.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Sending positive thoughts on this day of examination results to all the Next Generation of Larkin Readers and to all their hardworking teachers, lecturers, and librarians.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
As we consider the beauty and mystery of the solar eclipse today, do read Philip Larkin's poem SOLAR. Some would argue this is the closest Larkin ever came to writing a prayer.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
An online lunchtime course looking at Larkin's poetry available in October (not run by the PLS) www.marywardcentre.ac.uk/course-detai...
marywardcentre.ac.uk
Lunch and Learn - Larkin's Poems - Mary Ward Centre
‘Why should I let the toad work / Squat on my life?’ asked Philip Larkin. Why indeed? Still, at least you can spend your lunch break discussing classic poems in a friendly group with guidance from an ...
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Philip Larkin was born on this day in 1922. In this birthday poem for contemporary Charles Causley he considers the implications of being a Leo.
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Chris Sewart @chriswriting.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Looking forward to visiting the museum, in such a lovely building. The Guardian manages to drag up the tired 'Out on a limb' observation about Hull. And, of course, shoehorns Larkin @plsoc.bsky.social into the article...
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
We are celebrating Larkin's birthday on Sunday Aug 9 at 7pm with an online talk exploring Larkin's view of his own and other people's birthdays, by trustee Philip Pullen. Please come along and enjoy Philip's fascinating talk. Invite Link us06web.zoom.us/j/84112687553 us06web.zoom.us/j/84112687553
us06web.zoom.us
Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.
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James @northamptonian.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Come on @andyburnham.bsky.social - astonish the brickwork.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Not yet! @andyburnham.bsky.social
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Chris Sewart @chriswriting.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Rosie Millard wants us to 'Get a Hobby' and mulls over some quotes from Larkin's Required Writing. @plsoc.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/rosiemil...
open.substack.com
Get a hobby
But please do not monetise it, put it on Instagram or give it a hashtag
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Chris Sewart @chriswriting.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Larkin's 'Church Going' discussed on BBC Radio 4, at the tail end of Today. @plsoc.bsky.social The poem also lends its name to, and features in, a new R4 series on this morning ... www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - Church Going, with Giles Fraser, Episode 1
Giles Fraser is on a mission to discover the current state of Christianity.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Naomi Oba, the Young Warwickshire Poet Laureate for 2026, reads her poem, ‘Shelves of Wonder’ at the Larkin Tribute event, reminding us that libraries are magical places.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
An inspirational afternoon at the Philip Larkin event at the Coventry Book Festival. PLS President, Rosie Millard, presents the first ever Philip Larkin Society Next Generation Award to the Red River Theatre Company for their production ‘Home Is So Sad’
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Or, alternatively, “A serious house on serious earth it is, In whose blent air all our compulsions meet…”
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
We’re really looking forward to taking part in the Philip Larkin Tribute today at the Anglican Chapel, London Road Cemetery, Coventry as part of the Festival of Books. 3.00PM and free to attend.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
And of course the dreadful ring road caused the demolition of the Larkin house in Manor Road
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Absolutely!
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Coventry, like Hull (and Belfast) has its ‘sudden elegances’
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
A lovely day at Coventry’s Book Festival at The Charterhouse, including a new short piece, Home Is So Sad’ by The Red River Theatre Company. Satisfyingly Larkinesque
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Come along to our Meet the Members Zoom get together this Thursday at 7pm. The link was in May's newsletter to members and we will send it out again before Thursday. (The Lucky Jim Book Club will take place in the autumn- we got over excited about that, clearly an effect of the heat!)
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
If you want to know more about our wonderfully supportive Honorary Vice President Sir Tom Courtenay this is a good place to start.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Home Is So Sad www.rosiesretrobazaar.co.uk/event-detail...
rosiesretrobazaar.co.uk
Theatre: Home Is So Sad | Rosie's Retro Bazaar
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
www.rosiesretrobazaar.co.uk/coventry-fes... We’re looking forward to taking part in the Coventry Festival of Books next weekend. Larkin will have a definite presence. Free entry to most events if you have National Trust membership
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
On this day in 1948 the NHS was founded. Larkin's 1967 poem The Building may have had Hull Royal Infirmary in mind but is a universal meditation on hospitals and human frailty.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
On the occasional Sunday morning some of us may be able to empathise with Amis's Jim Dixon, after a night of excess: 'He lay sprawled, too wicked to move, spewed up like a broken spider-crab on the tarry shingle of the morning...' (Lucky Jim, 1954)
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
The Society is run entirely by unpaid volunteers, and everything we do — our journal, podcasts, YouTube, events, and social media — is made possible by your subscriptions. We have ambitious plans to focus on the Next Generation of Larkin Readers. Please remember to renew your membership!
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
A capsule review of Lucky Jim.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
A fantastic postcard!
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
We we are saddened to hear of the passing of Rob Bell, Hull historian, and poet. In 2015 Rob took a leading role in ‘Sounding The Larkin Trail’, a wonderfully evocative evening of poetry and music as part of the Toads Revisted Festival youtu.be/8HFkt7lD23E?...
youtu.be
Toads Revisited: Sounding the Larkin Trail
YouTube video by Hull2017
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
We already know he loves Larkin- here's a view of Andy Burnham's wider love of literature from PLS HVP Blake Morrison www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
At a poet’s memorial, I saw how Andy Burnham could be a different kind of prime minister | Blake Morrison
The putative PM-to-be explained how one of Tony Harrison’s poems gave him a new outlook, says poet and author Blake Morrison
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
It's amazing how literature can play such a huge role in our lives.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Larkin and Amis showed an immensely cruel streak regarding Lucky Jim and the characterisation of Margaret, for sure.
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Chris Sewart @chriswriting.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Larkin @plsoc.bsky.social was commissioned to write 'Bridge for the Living' for the opening. Simon Armitage revisited the poem for Larkin's centenary in 2022, worth a listen.... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
Larkin Revisited - Bridge for the Living - BBC Sounds
Simon Armitage explores Bridge for the Living.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Yes indeed
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
It is with great sadness that the Philip Larkin Society shares the news of the passing of Carole Collinson. Carole was a long-standing trustee, serving as Events Organiser and Membership Secretary for many years, and was the driving force behind the Larkin statue at Hull's Paragon Station.
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Philip Larkin Society @plsoc.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
The excellent Frank Cottrell-Boyce referencing Larkin and the Sex Pistols (about 30 mins in) when talking about the concepts behind the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics - the nation as ‘a frail travelling coincidence’ www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
This Cultural Life - Frank Cottrell-Boyce - BBC Sounds
Writer and Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce reveals his cultural influences.
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