Présentation de l'éditeur
Since its publication in 1988, Philip Larkin's Collected Poems, edited by Anthony Thwaite, has become essential reading on any poetry bookshelf. As Blake Morrison wrote in the Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry (2013), it was 'the first attempt to bring together his published and unpublished poetry, and remains the most attractive and accessible volume in print'. Differing to the later 2003 Collected Poems which followed the order of Larkin's successive published collections, the poems here are arranged by chronological order of completion. The result is a fascinating and extraordinary insight into the development of this best-loved poet. 'Philip Larkin was uniquely cherished, and not just in England, largely because of his gift for winning the respect of two kinds of readers: those scrupulously concerned about literary standards and those other nonspecialist listeners-in to what is generally available. This means that his Collected Poems is already a classic, with a guaranteed life on the market and in the memory.' Seamus Heaney 'With this magnificent Collected Poems before us, we can recognise that right from the start his approach to writing poetry was that of a virtuoso.' Peter Porter
Biographie de l'auteur
Philip Larkin was born in Coventry in 1922 and educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry, and St John's College, Oxford. As well as his volumes of poems, which include
The Less Deceived,
The Whitsun Weddings and
High Windows, he wrote two novels,
Jill
and
A Girl in Winter, and two books of collected journalism:
All What Jazz: A Record Diary and
Required Writing: Miscellaneous Prose. He worked as a librarian at the University of Hull from 1955 until his death in 1985. He was the best-loved poet of his generation, and the recipient of innumerable honours, including the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry and the WHSmith Award.
As one of Philip Larkin's chosen literary executors, Anthony Thwaite edited the
Collected Poems, Selected Letters and Further Requirements. His own
Collected Poems, drawing on fifty years work, was published in 2007.
