Larkin and Hardy fans book in for a celebratory weekend

The event at Hull Royal Hotel is being organised by The Philip Larkin Society in conjunction with The Thomas Hardy Society.

One of the highlights is a walk on the Larkin Trail, beginning at the hotel – Larkin memorably described its dining room where “silence laid like carpet” – taking in Paragon Station (Whitsun Weddings), City Hall, where he indulged his passion for jazz, and Marks & Spencer on Whitefriargate (The Large Cool Store).

The walk ends at one of the city’s newest buildings, Hull History Centre, where people can see some of the Larkin archives on display.

There has been a heavy demand for leaflets for the trail, launched last year as part of a series of events to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of the poet and members of the Society will be promoting it during the Heritage Open Days in September.

The evening will round off with a Larkin dinner with poetry readings, followed on the Sunday by a lecture Cathedral Musing: Thornton Wilder and Philip Larkin by Tom McAlindon.

One of the organisers, Carole Collinson, said: “The Thomas Hardy Society hosted a joint event for us two years ago and made us extremely welcome in Dorchester and we want to do the same thing here. We very much welcome anyone who might want to attend.”

It comes as one of the biggest public arts project staged in the city, Larkin with Toads, is poised to hop off with a national tourism award.

The project which saw 40 glassfibre toads placed around the city was recently shortlisted in the Best Tourism Event of the Year category at the Visit England Awards for Excellence 2012.

That means it is guaranteed to receive a gold, silver, bronze or highly commended award at the ceremony on May 22.

For more information about the weekend, from October 5 to October 7, visit www.philiplarkin.com.