"Miss J Hunter Dunn" dies, aged 92
Joan Jackson, the inspiration for "A Subaltern's Love Song", has died. Full story here.
Betjeman Recital
A concert of John Betjeman's poetry, some set to music by Madeleine Dring and Leslie East, will be performed at various venues in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire over the next few months. Dates arranged so far are
New CD from Lance Pierson
Lance Pierson has released a CD of some of John Betjeman's less well known poems, "The John Betjamen you never knew". More details here
Betjeman statue at St.Pancras
A statue of John Betjeman was unveiled at St.Pancras station on November 14th. He was instrumental in the fight to save the station from demolition in the sixties, and the new statue, by Martin Jennings, looks up at a replica of the original Victorian clock. Read more here.
Young People's Poetry Competition - 2007 Winners
The winning entries in the 2007 John Betjeman Young People's Poetry Competition were announced at the Cheltenham Festival of Literature on October 7th. You can read them here.
"Sweet Songs of Zion" - out now
Edited by Stephen Games, this collection of previously unpublished BBC Radio talks on hymns and hymn writers, is available now. John Betjeman gave these talks towards the end of his life, and were Betjeman's swan song as a broadcaster. 'Hymns are the poems of the people', Betjeman observed in his first talk, and went on to show how variously this insight has been borne out over generations.
Order now from the Betjeman Shop.
"Tennis Whites and Teacakes" - out now
Following on from the success of "Trains and Buttered Toast", Stephen Games new collection of Betjeman prose, poetry and letters has been published.
"Tennis Whites and Teacakes" looks at Betjeman's views on English culture - its places, its writings, its heroes, seaside architecture, national poets, the great cathedrals, our ancient townscapes.
Available now from the Betjeman Shop.
More DVDs available
Two of JB's long-lost BBC films have recently been released on DVD.
His verse autobiography "Summoned By Bells" and the documentary "A Passion for Churches" will both be commercially available for the first time.
It is possible that the series "Time with Betjeman" will follow later in the year.
They can be ordered now via the Betjeman Shop.
Centenary Events
A review of the major Centenary events can be found here.