A selective bibliography of open access articles on Philip Larkin, favoring signed articles by recognized scholars, articles published in reviewed sources, and web sites that adhere to the Modern Language Association Guidelines for Authors of Web Pages
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Bayley, John. Larkin, Pym and Romantic Sympathy. In Philip Larkin's new Romanticism "Humour becomes a part, and often the most important part, of what might be termed a new Romanticism. 'At thirty-one, when some are rich,/ And others dead/ I, being neither, have a job instead.'" Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 14, October 2002
Bloomfield, Barry. Philip Larkin: A Bibliography, 1933-1994 (British Library, 2002). Describes all of Philip Larkin's published work up to 1994 (removed)
Booth, James. The turf cutter and the nine-to-five man: Heaney, Larkin, and "the spiritual intellect's great work" [Seamus Heaney and Philip Larkin]. Twentieth Century Literature, Winter, 1997
Booth, James. Philip Larkin: The Poet's Plight (Palgrave Macmillan, August 2005) New study by the Hull University Professor, Scholar and Philip Larkin Society founder. Publisher's page provides a sample chapter
Bradford, Richard. First Boredom, Then Fear: The Life of Philip Larkin (Peter Owen, June 2005) Publisher's web site for this new biography. A review from the London Evening Standard
Brennan, Maeve. A review of a play by Ben Brown, Larkin with Women performed Nov. 1999 at the Stephen Joseph Theater. The play focuses the years when Philip Larkin was emotionally involved with three women simultaneously. In Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 9, April 2000
Brett, Raymond. Philip Larkin at Hull: A Psycho-Literary Sketch. A memoir of Philip Larkin by Raymond Brett, who was Professor of English at the University of Hull during the time Larkin was a librarian there. Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 7, April 1999
Burt, Stephen. "High Windows and Four-Letter Words," discusses "This Be The Verse" and Philip Larkin's inventive use of profanity. Boston Review, Oct. 1996
Burt, Stephen. "The poem is 'This Be The Verse,' and its author, Philip Larkin (1922-85), is back in the news, thanks to a radical revision of his Collected Poems" in Slate, 5/27/04
Cooper, Stepher. Philip Larkin: Subversive Writer, (Sussex Academic Press, 2004) Publisher's web site with blurb
Diedrick, James On the connections between Philip Larkin and Martin Amis, web site by James Diedrick, Professor of English, Albion College
Goodman, Richard. My particular Talents: Larkin's 42 year career as Librarian. Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin
Hall, Donald. "Philip Larkin 1922-1985." Poet Donald Hall writes about Larkin's fear of death, expressed in his last poem, "Aubade," and the shape of Larkin's poetic career. In The New Criterion, Feb. 1986
Hartley, Jean. Philip Larkin, The Marvell Press and Me, an editor describes her reaction, in 1953, to being sent poems by Larkin " 'Spring', 'Dry Point' and 'Toads.' From a book by Hartley, article in The North, 7 (1989)
Hartley, Jean. Philip Larkin and me, or you: the democratic appeal of his poetry. From talk delivered at the University of Hull on 15 November 2000
Hartley, Jean. Letter to The (London) Times, 17 February, 2002, from Jean Hartley (Larkin's former publisher)
Herold, Marcus. "Larkin's Predicament." An essay on Larkin's supposed pessimism concludes that Larkin is indeed glum: "A consideration of individual aspects of Larkin's dilemma, such as his sense of failure or the feeling that his lifetime passes unused, led over to a more detailed discussion of a set of clearly-defined dilemmas, all of which were shown to share the same underlying pattern: the persona aims at something that is out of reach for him, and is at the same time unable to come to terms with what he has got. This pattern holds true for so diverse realms of life as relationships to women, social contacts in general, and work." Philip Larkin Society, 1996
Ingelbien, Raphaël. "Larkin's French." Review of a talk at the Larkin Society on September 29, 1998, which focused on Larkin's relation to French poetry and Charles Baudelaire. Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 6 (Winter 1998)
Kamitani, Suzuyo. Jane Exall – "A Bosomy English Rose." On Larkin's correspondence with Jane Exall. Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 16, October 2003
Kenyon, John Larkin at Hull. An essay about Larkin's tenure as a librarian at Univ. of Hull. Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 6, Winter 1998
King, Don W. "Sacramentalism in the Poetry of Philip Larkin." A scholarly article argues that Larkin's skeptical tone doesn't mean he is incurably pessimistic, contending that his use of sacramental motifs illustrates a curiosity about spiritual matters. Discusses poems from The North Ship (1945), The Less Deceived (1955), The Whitsun Weddings (1964), and High Windows (1974), including "Going," "Faith Healing" and "Church Going."
Larkin, Philip Brief, funny excerpt from Larkin's diary while he was at Hull, The Angry Corrie, April 1994
Leggett, B.J. Larkin's blues: jazz and modernism. Twentieth Century Literature, Summer,1996
Motion, Andrew Larkin: A Writer's Life (Farber) A review in the Guardian Unlimited, 7/5/03. Another review, by Christopher Carduff, from the New Criterion
Neumann, Fritz-Wilhelm "The Poet of Political Incorrectness: Larkin's Satirical Stance on the Sexual-Cultural Revolution of the 1960s," in EESE 4/2003
Orwin, James L. A biography of Philip Larkin. From the Philip Larkin Society
Orwin, Jim An Arundel Tomb - an Interpretation. From the Philip Larkin Society
Osterwalder, Hans 'Wanking at ten past three': Larkin's posthumous love poetry. Writes Osterwalder "To my mind the poems on love excell: they help us get a fuller view of Larkin's desperate internal struggle, and beyond the personal level, of the late-20th-century man's inability to love and commit himself in general; they deserve to stand side by side with the celebrated pieces which have already achieved the status of modern classics." Philip Larkin Society
Palmer, Richard and John White, foreword by Alan Plater Reference Back: Philip Larkin's Uncollected Jazz Writings 1940-1984. (University of Hull Press, 1999) A review by John Miles, Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 8, October 1999
Paulin, Tom. Paulin discusses Philip Larkin as an imperialist poet in Minotaur: Poetry and the Nation State (Harvard Univ. Press, 1992)
Porteous, J. Douglas. "Nowhereman." On Larkin's geography and sense of place. Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 8, October 1999
Raine, Craig. A tribute to Larkin. In the Guardian Unlimited, December 3, 1985
Regan, Stephen. An introduction to Philip Larkin from the Literary Encyclopedia, 16 November 2002
Reiss, Edward. Poetry And Prejudice: Sexual Politics In 'Sunny Prestatyn.' Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 7, April 1999
Shaw, Robert B. Philip Larkin: A Stateside View. In Poetry Nation 6, 1976
Sonjae, An. Without Metaphysics: The Poetry of Philip Larkin. An analysis of two Larkin poems, "MCMXIV" and "Send no money" by Brother Anthony/ An Sonjae, Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Sogang University, Korea, 1992
Tolley, Trevor. On First Looking into Larkin's The Less Deceived From a paper delivered at the Larkin in Context Conference, 6/30/02
Thwaite, Anthony, ed. Selected Letters of Philip Larkin. Reviewed by A. L. Rowse, who writes "in all my experience I have never seen or read such foul-mouthed language, the whole virtuoso gamut of bawdry, swear-words often in every line..." In Contemporary Review, March, 1993
Weldon, Dave. Close reading of Larkin's "Arrival," by poet Dave Weldon, Sept., 2001
Whalen, Terry. 'Strangeness made sense:Philip Larkin in Ireland.' In the Antigonish Review, 107 (2004)
Woolley, John. Short analysis of Philip Larkin's poem "Coming." On "one of Larkin's most delicately elusive poems." Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin 11, April 2001
The Philip Larkin Society web site is active and up-to-date, with critical essays from About Larkin (indexed here), links to additional newspaper reviews and articles, a biography, a bibliography, a discussion list and more
A biographical introduction to Philip Larkin from the Books and Writers web site, Kuusankoski Public Library, Finland
A timeline for Philip Larkin from the Coventry and Warwickshire Network
Article from the Academy of American Poets discusses the British and Irish poets who had an important influence on twentieth century American Poetry, including Philip Larkin
A review of Philip Larkin's Further Requirements, a posthumous book of his prose writing, from the Manchester Guardian
Primary and secondary bibliography for Philip Larkin from the Larkin Society
Bibliography for Philip Larkin from Martin Dodsworth, Univ. of London
Recommended reading on Philip Larkin from the University of Hull Philip Larkin archive
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