Larkin's 99th Birthday special (part 1)
The Society is looking forward to the Centenary celebrations next year, but we wanted to mark what would have been Larkin's 99th birthday this year by reading his poems. The readings have been recorded and submitted by PLS society members, trustees, honorary vice presidents and podcast listeners from across the world. Larkin was famously reluctant to read his poems in public, but we hope listeners enjoy hearing his words being read out loud. Please raise a glass and join us with our birthday celebrations! This is the first of two parts. Poems and readers featured as follows. The Challenges of Life This Be the Verse - Helen Cooper Life with a Hole in It - Wade Newman First Sight - Gregg Walker Days - David Quantick Reasons for Attendance - Richard Johnston The Darker Side of Life The Building - Anne Gibson Sunny Prestatyn - Wes Finch Afternoons - Rachael Galletly Mr Bleaney - Martin Duckworth Love and Compassion The Mower - Yuanyou Zhang An April Sunday Brings the Snow – Hans Rutten Places, Loved Ones - Laura Wilson Love Songs in Age - Hugh Lester Born Yesterday - Carmel Morgan An Arundel Tomb - Ann Thwaite Experience Wires - Gregg Walker Wild Oats – Cath Sked New Eyes Each Year - Tony Peyser This is the First Thing - Graham Chesters Lines on a Young Ladies Photograph Album - Ingrid Keith Toads Revisited - Tim Whitaker Celebration The Trees - Polly McMullan The School in August - Casey Allen Skin - Bert Molsom To The Sea - Sally Button Coming - Paul Evans Is It For Now or For Always? - Lorna Simes Here - Nick Smales Please also head over to the Right In The Schoolies podcast for more Larkin poetry and check out Alan Johnson (honorary vice president of the Philip Larkin Society) reading Friday Night at the Royal Station Hotel on our Twitter feed. Thank you to all our contributors. Keep an eye out for Part 2 and many more readings. Presented by Lyn Lockwood. Theme music: 'The Horns Of The Morning' by The Mechanicals Band. Buy 'The Righteous Jazz' at their Bandcamp page: https://themechanicalsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-righteous-jazz Audio editing by Simon Galloway. Follow us and get it touch on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tiny_air Find out more about the Philip Larkin Society here - http://philiplarkin.com/