Philip Larkin: Letters to Monica - Radio 4's Book of the Week

So good to listen this week to Philip Larkin's 'Letters to Monica', his woman-friend of 40 years or so, to whom he wrote reams of letters. The readings are Radio 4's Book of the Week and the episodes are read by Hugh Bonneville. The next episode will be the last one, but you can listen to them again on the BBC iPlayer for a few days more. - Details here: Book of the Week. The letters give the lie to Larkin's being a dour, depressing fellow, as some people think. They are so warm, so personal, so inventive. I feel that any Monica would have treasured them, as this Monica must have, since, apparently, nearly two thousand letters were discovered after her death.

Since I first was introduced to Larkin's poetry I have liked it quite inordinately. I also enjoyed "A Girl in Winter", one of his two novels. When working in the Market Research department at Reckitt's in the holidays as a student, I did a bit of work for Philip Larkin in connection with the use of the stacks at the university library. When the work was completed, my boss went to lunch with my idol (at that time), and she brought me his autograph, neat and dated, on University of Hull headed paper. I was pleased to have it of course, but would have been so delighted if I could have been the one who had lunch with him...

Next month will see the 25th anniversary of Larkin's death. There are some celebratory (free) lectures still to come at the University of Hull. For details see this Philip Larkin Society webpage.

Can any good thing come out of Hull?...;o) - Quite a few good things, actually...

Here are some:

1) The great poems Philip Larkin wrote while he lived in Hull. My favourite collections are The Less Deceived and The Whitsun Weddings. I am listening to a Radio 4 The Archive Hour radio programme about him as I type. I have an LP record - produced by the Marvell Press - of him reading The Less Deceived collection. He's certainly one of my favourite poets, and has been so for most of my adult life. And I do so like to hear him reading them.

2) Andrew Marvell - 17th century poet and parliamentarian. His most famous, most loved and most anthologised poem is To His Coy Mistress

3) Last month's report in the Telegraph: Anti-depressants 'no better than dummy pills' about research by a Hull University team led by Prof Irving Kirsch. - I fervently hope this will save a lot of people having their lives/health damaged by these harmful, useless drugs.

4) William Wilberforce's work to make known, and to bring an end to, the evils of slavery. He retired from politics in 1825 and died on 29 July 1833, shortly after the act to free slaves in the British empire passed through the House of Commons. There is a Wilberforce museum in Hull.

5) Alan Plater - the great television playwright who, though born in Jarrow, was brought up in Hull.

And here is a website with loads of information about Hull and its people, past and present: http://www.hullwebs.co.uk/index.htm