Celebrating The Philip Larkin Society Conference 2024

Tiny In All That Air

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 ⁠[e-mail]⁠ 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