Peter Carpenter and Jonathan Smith, who were both Heads of English at Tonbridge, will discuss the life and work of John Betjeman. The discussion will consider the forces that shaped the man; the defining experiences of his life; his private dramas, his loves, tragedies and crises. This will underpin an exploration of his poetry. How good a poet is he? How important is his work and how many of his poems have endured in our collective memory? Why is a poet whose Collected Poems sold over two million copies frequently disregarded and patronised by literary critics? Is Betjeman just too readable? Not ‘difficult’ enough for those who advocated and followed a modernist example? Where does and should he stand in our assessment of English 20th Century poetry? Peter is a poet, essayist and critic; Jonathan primarily a novelist and playwright. Two of Jonathan’s radio plays about Betjeman were broadcast on Radio 4 at the end of 2017. The evening will be laced with readings of his poems.