Posted on November 11, 2018 at 8:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
One hundred years ago today, the World War I armistice was signed; one hundred years ago last Sunday, one of the conflict’s most famous poets was killed in action.
Wilfred Owen, however, only achieved his fame after his death on November 4, 1918; just five of his poems were published in his lifetime.
He was close friends with another famous British wartime poet, Siegfried Sassoon, both of whom have extensive biographies on the Poetry Foundation’s website. (Head here for Owen and here for Sassoon.)
Hat tip to The Passive Voice for sharing these links as well as the trailer for a new biopic of Owen, titled The Burying Party.
The film focuses on the last year of Owen's life, which is also when the majority of his work came out.
We also can't mention the poets without being reminded of Pat Barker's Regeneration, which we read as a college assignment and still remember fairly fondly, and we'll also toss out a friend's recommendation of Anne Monk's World War I series, for those more inclined toward prose than poetry.