Letter: That Philip Larkin – he was all right, I suppose
Wednesday 16th March 2011, 6:00AM GMT.
Letter: Please do not name the new walkwayin Wellington after Philip Larkin. A few literary snobs would like you to do so. That would annoy too many Wellingtonians, especially those who have met Larkin. He grossly insulted our town and its people.
Some of his poetry is good, but he should not be ranked among the greats.
Philip Larkin
Wellington Civic Society hosted readings in the library and presented a picture. That should be enough generosity to our detractor.
Allan Frost and Rob Francis have made excellent suggestions, any of which would be much more suitable.
Someone has even suggested naming the path after me; please don’t do that either.
Anyway, I’m still alive.
George Evans
Wellington
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Not only is George the self styled ‘Voice of Wellington’ he’s also a literary critic now?
George doesn’t speak for the majority of people in Wellington (including the Town Council) who wish to retain the Larkin Link.
No matter how miserable he might have been here during his stay the facts remain it was his most productive time as a writer and also as librarian, he doubled the readership and loans at the library, and fought to get books stocked by more controvertial authors.
As Ciaran Bradley writes elsewhere on this issue;
“During his tenure, he penned a brilliantly acid quip “I am entirely unassisted in my labours and spend most of my time handing out tripey novels to morons”. This I think, represents the core for anti-Larkin sentiment. It is brandished as proof of Larkin’s hatred of Wellington, yet never considered in context. This quote comes from a letter written, in private, by a young man to his friend. Can anyone who has been in a public facing job truthfully say that they’ve never muttered something similar to a colleague? Are all such indiscretions an expression of hate? It can’t be outlandish to assume that this is simply the vented frustration of a precocious youth.
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Comedian and writer Stewart Lee was born in Wellington, he has had several award winning series on TV and he wrote Jerry Springer the opera.
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I didn’t realise appreciating the poetry of Larkin made me a snob. Wonder what George “voice of Wellington” would suggest I read instead. Could he provide me with a reading list?
I like that Larkin lived in Wellington, was productive and worked in our local library. Birmingham has a productive tourist industry dedicated to fabricating tenuous links to the works of Tolkein, Wellington has a genuine piece of literary history and this must be celebrated.
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“Stewing Grass
I want to see them starving
The so-called working class
Their wages weekly halving
Their women stewing grass”
….some more of his immortal verse
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If you appreciate the poetry of Larkin Benji I presume you also know that he was a revolting little cowardly self pitying racist snob.
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:This Be The Verse:
They send you out emotionally ill prepared…..your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you…
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Perhaps we could have an Arrow design set into the surface, pointing towards the impressive aerial on the Wrekin. Then call it Marconi Way?
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I met Philip Larkin when I worked at Hull uni library in the late 70′s and found him to be a very private, almost shy man, although extremely gracious and kind. There is a newly erected statue of Larkin in the railway station which has received a mixed reception. Occasionally he was scathing about Hull but generally enjoyed his time here. Having him associated with the city is seen as a bonus and attracts visitors and I would hope the people and council of Wellington adopt the name for the walkway.
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