In Defence of the Realm: The Poetry of World Wars I and II; a Critical Study which is written by Dr Richard Ormrod, Winchelsea Literary Society chairman, is published this August.
This is the first book to examine both wars’ poetry in the same volume and examines the unique and evolving landscape of war poetry during both world wars, exploring how poets responded to the conflicts and how their work shaped perceptions of war.
Set against their literary and historical backgrounds, many lesser-known but excellent poets such as Douglas and Keyes, are critically assessed next to the known greats, Owen and Sassoon, to show the range and quality of writing across the services and eras.
Comprehensive, challenging and well researched, this is a book for lovers of history, poetry and the esoteric.
Richard has taught for the Open University and continues to teach creative writing to adults under the auspices of Rye Arts Festival (RAF). He has given several public lectures for RAF.
Richard is a published biographer, journalist and poet and now a literary critic. His first volume of poetry was published this year and a second is anticipated in 2026.
Did you always want to be a writer when you were growing up?
Yes, when at school I knew I wanted to write, at that time both fiction and poetry. Later I realised that I was not innately a storyteller, so took to biography, where the characters and storyline are already there, so you just have to interpret and re-construct!
What did you read at University?
I read English literature at London University and did my Ph.D. much later at Birmingham, having been head of English in several independent schools, then taught creative writing for the OU. I continue the latter in Rye, under the auspices of the Rye Arts Festival, to which I have given several public lectures. I am also chairman of the Winchelsea Literary Society.
Have you always had an interest in war poetry?
My interest in war poetry is long-standing. Although there are many anthologies of both wars and biographies of the poets of each, there has not been a critical comparison in one volume before, set against their historical and literary backgrounds. The poets of the second world war, Sidney Keyes and Keith Douglas, are still less well-known than those of the first world war, such as Owen and Sassoon.
What is your favourite war poem?
My candidate for the best war poem of all time has to be Owen’s ironically titled Anthem for Doomed Youth.
Image Credits: Richard Ormrod , Richard Ormrod .