TONY FLYNN & MARY McCOLLUM

On 18 January 2023 two of the most exciting poets associated with Hull shared the stage in a reading designed to shop-window their recent work and to launch Tony’s latest collection, The Heart Itself. The reading incorporated a tribute to the late Hull poet Tony Griffin which featured contributions from maestro Peter Didsbury and the scintillating Pam Scobie. Didsbury, Flynn and Griffin were all included in the landmark anthology A Rumoured City, New Poets from Hull (1982), edited by Douglas Dunn and prefaced by Philip Larkin, which changed the map of English poetry. Although the night was bitterly cold, forty souls braved the frost to warm their hands at the flame of poetry and bask in the cultural micro-climate. Among their number were fellow poets (Andy Fletcher, Jules Smith), painters (Dave Rowe, Tom Grealy), photographers (Paul Vallance), fiction writers (Susan Harr) and dramatists (Dave Windass).

The reading was organized by LegalHighsLive in association with the Philip Larkin Society and Hull Central Library, and took place in the beautiful James Reckitt Reading Room. Our thanks to all who participated – as poets, organizers or audients.

John Osborne