Lucy London / Female Poets of the First World War

[Bradley Omanson]

        Am distributing this from Lucy London about a series of exhibitions she is working on about women poets of the First World War.  Please pass on to any interested parties.

Her website is at: www.femalewarpoets.blogspot.co.uk

Her other contact information can be found in her message below.

Thank you,
BJ Omanson
       
---- Original Message ----
From: "Lucy London" <in...@femalewarpoets.com>
Sent: 11/16/2013 3:46:00 PM
To: ski...@labyrinth.net
Subject: Female Poets of the First World War
       

Hi, I just love your website and it's name.   I am looking for unusual women poets who wrote during the 1914 - 1919 period.  In particular I am hoping to find two Russian women who were also soldier poets - Mrs Koudasheva and Mrs Skridlova.  I would be most grateful if you or any of your contacts know of any poets not yet on my list - http://www.femalewarpoets.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/revised-list-of-female-poets-of-first.html

Grandfather was an 'Old Contemptible'  - that is to say a professional soldier with the Royal Field Artillery - he was among the first to go to France in August 1914 and took part in the Battle of Mons for which he received the Mons Star and under fire Clasp.  He was a sergeant at the outbreak of war;  by November 1916 he had been commissioned as an Officer. He was posted to India, Mesopotamia and finally The Dunsterforce and he survived the First World War and served in the Second, 

In memory of Grandfather and of a Great Uncle who was killed at the Battle of Arras on 9th April 1917 (his body was never found but he is commemorated on the Memorial at Arras), I am currently researching women who wrote poetry during the First World War.  I am planning to hold a series of exhibitions aimed at informing members of the general public about the First World War through the medium of poetry written by women who were alive then.   

I was asked to undertake this research and produce an exhibition at the Wilfred Owen Story in Birkenhead, Wirral Peninsula, NW England, for November 2012.   I began by looking for a female poet from the Wirral Peninsula in the north west of England - Wilfred Owen went to school in Birkenhead, where his family lived for some years - and discovered that May Sinclair was born in Rock Ferry, a town near Birkenhead.  I added two poets from the North West of England then looked for poets from other countries involved in the War.

The exhibition was so successful that it has been retained throughout 2013 and I have continued with my research.   This is not an academic study but is aimed at members of the general public who may not know much about poetry or the First World War.   Details of my, self-funded, project are on www.femalewarpoets.blogspot.co.uk.

In order to include details of women who were not poets, I have added a section entitled "Inspirational Women of World War One" and then one entitled 'Fascinating Facts of the Great War' so that I can include soldier poet Wilfred Owen for instance - who was posted to Fleetwood in November 1916 before being sent to France.

In his anthology "The Sweet Red Wine of Youth", Nicholas Murray states that he has not included women poets because women did not fight.  However, they did fight - Flora Sandes, a clergyman's daughter from East Anglia, for instance, who enlisted in the Serbian Army.   And there were many who did not fight but who went to help in the various theatres of war as nurses, aids, entertainers, telephonists, and so on.   Professor Joshua S. Goldstein, USA has written a book about War and Gender.  He states that upwards of 75,000 women from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the USA and elsewhere went to the fighting zones to help during WW1.  Then there were those who stayed at home and worked on the land in the Land Army or in Munitions Factories or nursing or just generally helping out.   And then there were those who knitted and 'kept the home fires burning'.

There is an exhibition now running throughout 2013 at The Wilfred Owen Story, 34 Argyle Street, Birkenhead, Wirral, CH41 6AE - North West England - Tuesdays - Fridays 11 am till 2 pm.  Do phone before going - Dean Johnson on 07539 371925 - because the WOS is manned entirely by volunteers.  Dean has also written a rock musical about Wilfred Owen called "Bullets and Daffodils" which is an amazing way of getting young people to appreciate poetry.

and 

an exhibition at Fleetwood Library,  North Albert Street, Fleetwood FY7 6AJ, Lancashire, North West England, until 30th November 2013 - Mondays 9am - 5 pm; Tuesdays 9am - 7 pm; Wednesdays 9 am - 12.30; Thursdays 9 am - 7 pm; Fridays 9 am - 5 pm; Saturdays 9 am - 4 pm.

If anyone is planning a visit to Fleetwood, don't forget to have a look at the Golf Links, which is where the Firing Range was situated and the North Euston Hotel, which was the HQ of the Gunnery School where Wilfred Owen was posted in October - December 1916.   Wilfred had lodgings in nearby Bold Street - there is a blue plaque on the wall of the house. There is also an interesting museum reflecting Fleetwood's maritime history and a memorial garden.

Exhibitions are free and can be 'tailored' to suit the venue - for instance, the Fleetwood Exhibition features, among other things, a female poet born in Fleetwood, details of Wilfred Owen's stay in Fleetwood and information about the role of the trawlers in WW1.   

There is also a small companion book to accompany the exhibitions - details on www.poshupnorth.com

I hope to hear from you.

Kind Regards,

Lucy London

www.femalewarpoets.blogspot.co.uk

in...@femalewarpoets.com