Larkin at sixty

the long version

Many would call Philip Larkin the finest living poet writing in English. In this tribute to him on his sixtieth birthday, twenty writers have come together to celebrate the man and the poet with some specially written pieces. Some of them are reminiscent, some look at aspects of his professional life as librarian, some consider his taste as it reveals itself in his writings on jazz and in his editing of the 'Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse'. The relationship between his novesls and his poems is examined, and several essays explore the poems themselves. Three poets contribute hitherto unpublished poems. Together, all these illuminate with affection and insight the work, the man behind the work, and the appeal of both.