Women Poets of the First World War

Iconic figures in poetry of the first world war, Owen and Sassoon, drew attention to the futility of war from the perspective of officers in the trenches and are most popular voices of the war. Despite this 2225 different British and Irish poets were published during the war, ¼ of these were women and yet the 1960’s literary elite chose Owen and Sassoon to be the voices of this war as the views expressed in their poems of war’s futility fitted the current climate. Female poets’ voices were neglected until 1970’s Anglo-American feminist movement with the republication of Vera Britten’s Testament of Youth and publication of Catherine Reilly’s anthology Scar’s Upon My Heart (both prominent features on feminist reading lists) which drew attention to women’s issues during the war such as loss, inequality, evolving position of women and female suffrage. This year marks the centenary of the end of the first world war and votes for women which presents a good opportunity to reflect on the evolving position of these pioneering women.