A Northern Wind: Britain 1962-65 review – twist and shout David Kynaston’s epic history zooms in on three years of extraordinary social change The Guardian - UK · Nov 15, 2023
Our retreat from Christianity doesn’t mean we’ve lost our sense of morality Those who moan that we’re losing our religion are quick to demonise the most vulnerable The Guardian - UK · Sep 10, 2023
10 of the UK’s best country shows These brilliant late-summer rural fairs combine centuries of tradition with plenty of fun – from falconry to food and crafts The Guardian - UK · Aug 19, 2023
All the poets turned down for the laureate in 1968 Prominent poets of the era — including John Betjeman, WH Auden, and Philip Larkin — were disparaged, accused of being drunkards, snobs, communists, mentally unstable, or even creators of explicit content Evening Standard · Jul 19, 2023
Move to halt church sell-offs chimes with Philip Larkin’s prophetic homage Dwindling attendance has led to the closure of 1,700 places of worship since a prescient 1954 poem wondered about their fate The Guardian - UK · Jul 1, 2023
Sleeping on Islands by Andrew Motion review – candid stories from the former poet laureate A revealing memoir illuminates the conflict between wordly success and creative freedom The Guardian - UK · May 25, 2023
Martin Amis, acclaimed British novelist and London scenester of '80s and '90s, dies at 73 Martin Amis, the acclaimed British author best known for “Money,” “London Fields” and a dozen other novels of flash, style and substance, who was also a fixture of the London literary scene, has died at age 73. Los Angeles Times · May 21, 2023
Martin Amis obituary Writer whose acrobatic wit defied gravity and solemnity and who epitomised literary fame in an age of glitz and hype The Guardian - UK · May 20, 2023
Master stylist Martin Amis was the Mick Jagger of the literary world The author of ‘Money’ and ‘The Rachel Papers’ once said that posterity was ‘no bloody use to me’, but his incisive novels and essays remain some of the most influential of his generation, writes Martin Chilton The Independent UK · May 20, 2023
‘A billion listens? Is that a lot?’ John Cooper Clarke on penning possibly the world’s favourite poem I Wanna Be Yours, a love poem that rhymes Ford Cortina with vacuum cleaner, has been a school text and a wedding staple. But now, thanks to TikTok and Arctic Monkeys, it has gone spectacularly global. So who was it written for? The Guardian - UK · Mar 20, 2023
Jonathan Raban obituary Writer of travel books, novels and essays, whose Soft City was an early example of psychogeography The Guardian - UK · Jan 18, 2023
Philip Larkin: a canary in the coalmine of cancel culture Hull University in midwinter provided a perfect backdrop for a centenary lecture series on its most famous librarian The Guardian - UK · Dec 10, 2022
Philip Larkin’s letter about the Ilkley screamer Brief letters: Ted Hughes poetry reading | Avanti trains | Hoarding toes | A measure of squidge | Deep dive into jargon The Guardian - UK · Dec 6, 2022
Poem of the week: No Remedy by Drummond Allison A complicated meditation on vexed personal relationships is leavened with energetic invention The Guardian - UK · Nov 7, 2022
The Guardian - UK · Sep 25, 2022 The Guardian view on Philip Larkin at 100: a lasting gift Editorial: Whatever we may feel about the man, some things are eternal, and in his work he found the words for them
The Guardian - UK · Sep 10, 2022 Five men and one woman who took on impossible job – of poet laureate Several of the poets appointed by, or inherited by the Queen, had to deal with public mockery. No wonder Philip Larkin turned down the role
The Hindu · Aug 13, 2022 No tusks: What else did we do right as kids? The poet Philip Larkin put his finger on it years ago with: They f*** you up your mom and dad. He co
Evening Standard · Aug 11, 2022 So what if Larkin was reactionary? The poems still sing Philip Larkin was one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. He was also, among other things, a librarian at Hull University, an editor of the Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century English Verse, a huge fan of Margaret Thatcher, a prodigious writer of letters, an aficionado of jazz music and…
The Guardian - UK · Aug 9, 2022 Philip Larkin flinched from intimacy – how would he have coped with social media? A century after the poet’s birth, Imtiaz Dharker introduces her own poem about the grumpy great, Swiping left on Larkin
The Conversation · Aug 8, 2022 Was Philip Larkin stifled by his job as a librarian? New research suggests he was rather dedicated Named Britain’s greatest postwar writer by the Times in 2008, Philip Larkin remains justly celebrated as a wry observer of life’s routines, banalities and quiet poignancies. He was a writer who once spoke of poetry as “enhancing the everyday”.
The Independent UK · Aug 7, 2022 Philip Larkin at 100: Why the morbid curmudgeon still belongs in schools A century after the poet’s birth, Larkin’s friend and biographer Andrew Motion talks to Kevin E G Perry about his controversial prejudices, his keen sense of mortality and why he continues to deserve a place on the national curriculum
Wales Online · Jul 6, 2022 Nadhim Zahawi, from fleeing Iraq as a child to Chancellor, via YouGov, vaccine roll-out and education Represents Shakespeare's constituency and has spoken of how poet Philip Larkin helped him improve his English as a teenager
The Guardian - UK · Jun 25, 2022 Philip Larkin’s profound and beautiful poetry sent me back to the classroom The exam board that dropped the poet and others from the curriculum has overlooked their effects on young minds
The Guardian - UK · Jun 23, 2022 Nadhim Zahawi: axing Larkin and Owen poems for GCSE is cultural vandalism Education secretary denounces exam board’s decision to replace the two poets in English literature course
The Independent UK · Jun 23, 2022 Wilfred Owen and Philip Larkin’s GCSE removal is ‘cultural vandalism’ – Zahawi Nadhim Zahawi hit out on Thursday at the move by OCR, which is part of a wider reform of the exam board’s anthology.