Portal:University of Oxford/Selected biography/25

Philip Larkin (1922–1985) is widely regarded as one of the greatest English poets of the latter half of the 20th century. After graduating from St John's College, Oxford in 1943, Larkin became a librarian, and it was during the 30 years he spent running the library at the University of Hull that he produced the greater part of his published work. He came to prominence in 1955 with his second collection of poems, The Less Deceived, followed by The Whitsun Weddings (1964) and High Windows (1974). He declined the position of poet laureate in 1984, following the death of John Betjeman; he died in the following year and is buried at Cottingham near Hull (gravestone pictured). His poems are marked by what Andrew Motion calls a very English, glum accuracy about emotions, places, and relationships, and what Donald Davie described as lowered sights and diminished expectations. Larkin's public persona was that of the no-nonsense, solitary Englishman who disliked fame and had no patience for the trappings of the public literary life. The posthumous publication by Anthony Thwaite in 1992 of his letters triggered controversy about his personal life and reactionary political views. Despite this, Larkin was chosen in a 2003 Poetry Book Society survey as Britain's best-loved poet of the previous 50 years, and in 2008 The Times named him as the country's greatest post-war writer. (more...)