14/07/2022
Authors Club: Philip Larkin: A Centenary Celebration
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Join us to celebrate the centenary of the birth of one of the 20th century’s most beloved poets: Philip Larkin, author of ‘An Arundel Tomb’ (‘What will survive of us is love’), ‘The Whitsun Weddings’, ‘Church Going’, ‘Aubade’ and many other memorable, haunting verses. The distinguished poets Fiona Sampson and Alan Jenkins will be discussing Larkin’s life and work alongside Authors’ Club members Suzi Feay and John Walsh, while the actor Nicholas Rowe will read a selection of Larkin’s poems.
Fiona Sampson, Professor Emerita of Poetry at Roehampton University, is an acclaimed critic and prizewinning poet. Books include ‘Beyond the Lyric: A map of contemporary British poetry’, ‘In Search of Mary Shelley’, and ‘Limestone Country’, which was a Guardian nature writing book of the year. She was editor of Poetry Review from 2005-2012; her own collections include ‘Rough Music’, ‘Coleshill’, ‘The Catch’ and ‘Come Down’. ‘Starlight Wood: Walking back to the Romantics’ will be published in September.
Alan Jenkins is a poet, critic and literary journalist, and was for many years poetry editor of the TLS. His collections include ‘In the Hot House’, ‘The Drift’, ‘Revenants’ and ‘Harm’, which won the Forward Prize. His 2005 collection ‘A Shorter Life’ was judged to have ‘a subtlety and formal aptitude that at times recalls Philip Larkin’. He has translated Rimbaud and edited the Collected Poems of Ian Hamilton. His own Selected Poems came out in 2001.
Nicholas Rowe began his acting career fresh out of school starring in Young Sherlock Holmes, produced by Steven Spielberg. Other films include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Nicholas Nickleby, Enigma and most recently, Operation Mincemeat. Notable TV appearances include roles in Riviera, Grantchester, Midsomer Murders, A Very British Scandal and The Crown. Last year he played Joseph Severn in Lift Me Up, a film commissioned by the British School at Rome for the bicentenary of Keats’ death.
The event is free, but please reserve a place via Eventbrite – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philip-larkin-a-centenary-celebration-tickets-372178244147
