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The Sunday Sessions
- Narrated by: Philip Larkin
- Length: 46 mins
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Summary
A collection of Larkin's best-known poems, read by the poet. The Sunday Sessions consists of 26 poems, the contents of two tapes recorded by Philip Larkin in Hull in February 1980 - reportedly each on a Sunday, after lunch with John Weeks, a sound engineer and colleague of the poet.
The tapes, which contain work from Larkin's first major collection, The North Ship, as well as poems from his best-known collections, The Whitsun Weddings and High Windows, remained "lost" for over two decades, lying on a shelf in the garage in which they had been recorded.
Since their rediscovery they have been the subject of widespread media attention, including a BBC Radio 4 Archive Hour documentary. Their contents are here published in full for the first time. Larkin's reading captures each poem with great clarity of speech and with a plainness which serves only to enhance the work.
The Sunday Sessions presents a remarkable overview of Larkin's writing career, but above all it is to be heard for the pleasure it offers, and for the opportunity it provides to encounter Larkin's work afresh.
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- sfp
- 01-01-23
A perfect thing
I’ve listened to countless poetry readings. Philip Larkin’s Sunday Sessions is, for me, the most rewarding—infinitely repeatable. Humane, unsentimental and touching.