Philip Larkin

When Philip Larkin died in 1985, he left behind a body of poetry, criticism, and fiction that assures him a permanent place in the literature of our time. In this balanced and widely based tribute, eighteen distinguished contributors, many of whom knew Larkin personally, celebrate his unique talents and reveal the man behind the work. Sixteen candid photographs document Larkin's life as a librarian at Hull, as a friend of other writers, and as poet and thinker for the years 1959 to 1985. Generous quotations from his unpublished letters (especially those to Barbara Pym) are included along with the living testimonies of those who knew him well.

This comprehensive, eminently readable volume, the first of its kind to appear since Larkin's death, will be an important companion to his forthcoming collections of letters and poems. From Kingsley Amis' and Anthony Curtis' fine memoirs of Larkin's life at Oxford to William H. Pritchard's and David Lodge's examinations of some of the distinctive qualities in his poetry, these essays are essential reading for anyone interested in Philip Larkin as a man, as an artist, and as a major figure of the twentieth century.