Ralph Dartford

Tiny In All That Air

Our guest today is writer Ralph Dartford who works for the National Literacy Trust and is the poetry editor of literary journal Northern Gravy. Ralph kindly made the journey from Bradford to the Lockwood residence in Sheffield, and we settled down in my living room with mugs of tea and a plate of biscuits, surrounded by books and looked down upon by at least three pictures of Larkin.

Ralph also co-organises the fantastic Louder Than Words festival that takes place in Manchester every autumn, and is a celebration of writing about music. They gather together amazing writers, broadcasters and musicians to discuss, explore and debate all things music and music industry related. I hope we will continue to see Ralph at more PLS events.

Larkin poems mentioned:

The Whitsun Weddings, Dockery and Son, Mr Bleaney, For Sidney Bechet, High Windows, Cut Grass, To The Sea, MCMXIV, Here, Broadcast

All What Jazz: A Record Diary 1961-1971 (1985) by Philip Larkin

The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse - ed. Philip Larkin (1973)

I am happy to see Mr. Larkin's taste in poetry and my own are in agreement ... I congratulate him most warmly on his achievement. - W. H. Auden, The Guardian

Poets/writers/musicians mentioned by Ralph

Kae Tempest, Joelle Taylor, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Vicky Foster, Steve Ely, Chris Jones, Ian Parks, John Betjeman, John Cooper Clarke, John Hegley, Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Michael Stewart, Blake Morrison, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Sidney Bechet, Alan Bennett, Stewart Lee, David Quantick, Ray Davis, Blur, Van Morrison, Hang Clouds, Evelyn Glennie, Kingsley Amis, Andrea Dunbar, Helen Mort

Other references:

Adlestrop (1914) by Edward Thomas https://www.edwardthomaspoetryplaces.com/post/adlestrop

Arthur Scargill: “Arthur Scargill, the miners’ leader and socialist, once told The Sunday Times, ‘My father still reads the dictionary every day. He says your life depends on your power to master words.” Martin H. Manser, The Penguin Writer's Manual

Bob Monkhouse https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/dec/30/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries

Longbarrow Press https://longbarrowpress.com/

Valley Press https://www.valleypressuk.com/

Kes (1968) by Barry Hines

Ralph is Poetry Editor for Northern Gravy https://northerngravy.com/

Ralph reads Geese and England’s Dreaming from House Anthems https://www.valleypressuk.com/shop/p/house-anthems

Gareth Southgate https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-57816651

Simon Armitage Larkin Revisited Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m0019yy2

Nick Cave- Honorary Vice President for the Philip Larkin Society- Desert Island Discs https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0027cgl

Lyn’s English teacher 1982-1989 https://petercochran.wordpress.com/remembering-peter/

The Ted Hughes Network https://research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/tedhughes/

James Underwood https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/early-larkin-9781350197121/

Albums mentioned:

OK Computer (1997) by Radiohead , Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and The White Album (1968) by The Beatles, Park Life (1994) by Blur

Summertime in England by Van Morrison https://www.vice.com/en/article/summertime-in-england-a-monologue-on-van-morrison/

Events:

https://louderthanwordsfest.com/

"My Friend Monica": Remembering Philip Larkin's Partner Monica JonesSat 22 Mar 2025 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Ken Edwards Lecture Theatre 2, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/literaryleicester/1538331

A celebration marking 70 years of Philip Larkin's 'The Less Deceived'

For World Poetry Day

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-celebration-marking-70-years-of-philip-larkins-the-less-deceived-tickets-1235639173029?aff=oddtdtcreator

Produced by Lyn Lockwood and Gavin Hogg

Please email Lyn at ⁠[email protected] ⁠ with any questions or comments

PLS Membership, events, merchandise and information: philiplarkin.com