Philip Larkin (1922–1985)
Author of Collected Poems
About the Author
Philip Larkin was a British poet, novelist, critic, and essayist. Born in 1922 in Coventry, England, he graduated from St. John's College, Oxford, in 1940 and then pursued a career as a librarian, becoming the librarian at the University of Hull in 1955. Although he led a retiring life and show more published infrequently, producing only one volume of poetry approximately every 10 years, Larkin was still considered one of the preeminent contemporary British poets. He is often associated with the "Movement," a 1950s literary group that, through the use of colloquial language and common, everyday subjects, endeavored to create poetry that would appeal to the common reader. However, this association came about mainly because Larkin's poem "Church Going," for which he first gained critical attention, was published in New Lines, an anthology of the "Movement" poets. In reality, his work, particularly his later poems, is not typical of the group. Larkin's published a total of only four volumes of poetry: The North Ship (1945), The Less Deceived (1955), The Whitsun Weddings (1964), and High Windows (1974). He also wrote two novels, Jill and A Girl in Winter, and published two volumes of prose, Required Writing and All That Jazz, a collection of his reviews of jazz records. Philip Larkin died in 1985. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Philip Larkin
The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse (Oxford Books of Verse) (1973) — Editor — 267 copies
Collected Poems 245 copies
Dear Philip, Dear Kingsley: Starring Alan Bennett & Robert Hardy (BBC Radio Collection) (2002) 6 copies
Femmes damnees 2 copies
Poetry Supplement 1 copy
Poetry Supplement Compiled By Philip Larkin For The Poetry Book Society, Christmas 1974 (1974) 1 copy
Zebrane 1 copy
Associated Works
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 926 copies
Poetry Speaks Expanded: Hear Poets Read Their Own Work from Tennyson to Plath (2007) — Contributor — 152 copies
Lapham's Quarterly - Lines of Work: Volume IV, Number 2, Spring 2011 (2011) — Contributor — 29 copies
Poetry in the making : catalogue of an exhibition of poetry manuscripts in the British Museum, April-June 1967 — Contributor — 2 copies
Damien Hirst: Superstition — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Larkin, Philip Arthur
- Birthdate
- 1922-08-09
- Date of death
- 1985-12-02
- Burial location
- Cottingham Municipal Cemetery, Hull, England, UK
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- England, UK
- Birthplace
- Coventry, Warwickshire, England, UK
- Place of death
- Hull, Yorkshire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Coventry, Warwickshire, England, UK (1922-1940)
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK (1940-1943)
Wellington, Shropshire, England, UK (1943-1946)
Leicester, Leicestershire, England, UK (1946-1950)
Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK (1950-1955)
Hull, Yorkshire, England, UK (1955-1985) - Education
- University of Oxford (St John's College)
- Occupations
- librarian
poet
jazz critic - Relationships
- Amis, Kingsley (friend)
Avis, Patricia (lover)
Trickett, Rachel (friend) - Organizations
- University of Hull
Queen's University, Belfast
University of Leicester - Awards and honors
- Royal Society of Literature (Fellow ∙ Companion of Literature ∙ Benson Medal)
Order of the Companions of Honour
Order of the British Empire (Commander)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 54
- Also by
- 31
- Members
- 6,165
- Popularity
- #3,992
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 57
- ISBNs
- 146
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 51