Josephine Hart Poetry Hour: the Poetry of Philip Larkin
Channel: British Library
Date: 2023-01-26

This event took place on the 5 of October 2022. The information below is correct as of the publication date.

A celebration of one of the 20th century’s finest poets in English, Philip Larkin, on the centenary of his birth and marking National Poetry Day 2022.

With a special guest introduction by Professor Mary Beard, and readings by a cast of leading stage and screen actors including Tara Fitzgerald.

Of her first presentation of this Poetry Hour, Josephine Hart wrote:

‘In 1984 I approached Philip Larkin to request permission to present an evening of his poetry read by Alan Bates. Though warned by his old friend Kingsley Amis, “Oh dear, no, Josephine, Philip won’t like this at all,” I persevered. Mr. Larkin said yes.’ – From: ‘What will survive of us is love’, Philip Larkin (from An Arundel Tomb, 1956)

Presented by The Josephine Hart Poetry Foundation in association with The Philip Larkin Society.

The Poetry Hour was founded by novelist and poetry anthologist Josephine Hart. Launched as The Gallery Poets in Mayfair in the mid 1980s, it later became The Poetry Hour and won fame for bringing classic ‘great poetry read aloud by great actors’ to a wide audience. The British Library has supported Josephine Hart’s mission from 2004 and continues to do so in her memory on a regular basis.

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