About the Author

RICHARD BRADFORD is Research Professor in English at the University of Ulster and aside from having published a large number of academic monographs he has earned a considerable reputation as the author of literary biographies of Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis, Alan Sillitoe and Martin Amis. His book The Odd Couple on the curious relationship between Amis and Larkin was described as 'a lively, readable and often scandalous portrait' by the Sunday Times.

MARK HAWORTH-BOOTH served as a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) from 1970 - 2004 and, as senior curator of photographs, helped to build up its great collection of photography. He is now an Honorary Research Fellow at the V&A and a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art. He was appointed an Officer of the British Empire for services to museums in 2005 and he became an Honorary Doctor of Arts of the University of the Arts London in 2012.

Reviews

"Larkin's trusty Rolleiflex seems by far the most telling medium through which to come face-to-face with the man behind the lens."
*The Independent*

"A beautifully produced book ... the photographs display the full range of his poetic sensibility, from the melancholic to the comical"
*The New Yorker*

"For anyone interested in English Poetry of the twentieth century, The Importance of Elsewhere is a fascinating book. For those with a particular interest in Philip Larkin, it';s an event." 
*LiteratureWorks*

"A fascinating and tantalising book, and one that sheds light on a great poet and tricky human being, who seems to have found, in photography, another altogether less fretful – and perhaps kinder – way of preserving what he experienced."
*The Observer*

Christmas 2015: The top 14 poetry books – "There may not be much undiscovered work to come from Philip Larkin, but for completists The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkin's Photographs, by his biographer Richard Bradford, is indispensable.”
*The Independent*

“Larkin's photographs not only illustrate his poems - they explain and deepen them.” “...superlative, succinct and subtle biographical commentary”
*The Times*

"The only revelation in this imposingly handsome book turns out to be Larkin's talent behind the lens." 
*Daily Telegraph*