Housman, Gurney, Kipling - An Unusual Literary Link

Sponsored by the Somewhere Else Writers Group.In 1909 a music student in Gloucester inscribed a book of 63 poems to a famous English writer, and then sent him the book.

The music student was 19-year-old Ivor Gurney; the famous writer was Rudyard Kipling, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907; and the book of poems was A Shropshire Lad by A.E.

Housman, which has been continuously in print since its publication in 1896.During a visit to Trinity College (Cambridge) in 2019, Linda Hart was able to examine the book in the College library.

She was thrilled, fascinated, and then very curious.

Why was Gurney sending a gift to Kipling? Why had he chosen A Shropshire Lad? Where had the book been for the past 110 years? How did it get from Gloucester to Cambridge? What sort of links were there between Housman, Gurney, and Kipling?In this illustrated presentation Linda tells us about the results of her sleuthing while Max reads a variety of poems and letters.

Housman, Gurney, Kipling: An Unusual Literary Link is a fascinating portrait of a book, and an iconic, poetic relationship.Max Hunt is the current chairman of the Housman Society, which was founded in 1973.

Linda Hart has been writing and lecturing about Housman for many years; and has co-edited the Housman Society Journal.