FEMALE POETS OF THE FIRST
WORLD WAR
As my research has progressed, it has become very clear that there were far more women who wrote poetry during the 1914 - 1918 period than the few mentioned in many of the anthologies compiled so far. I feel strongly that their voices deserve to be heard.
REVISED LIST MAY 2013
BRITAIN
Margot Robert ADAMSON
Georgette AGNEW
Marian ALLEN
Jessie Annie ANDERSON (b. 1861 - Scottish
Jessie Annie ANDERSON (b. 1861 - Scottish
Lilian M. ANDERSON
Marion ANGUS (1866 - 1946) - Scottish
Marion ANGUS (1866 - 1946) - Scottish
Edith BAGNOLD (27th October 1889 - 31st March
1981) (Nurse then driver in France)
Rachel BATES (Wirral)
Dorothy Julie BAYNES
Mary BEAZLEY
Mary BEAZLEY
Madeline Ida BEDFORD
Janet BEGBIE
Maud Anna BELL (Serbian Relief Fund)
Frances BELLERBY (1899 – 1975)
Stella BENSON (1892 - 1933)
Matilda BETHAM-EDWARDS
Nora BOMFORD
Mary BOOTH
Mary BOOTH
Lilian BOWES LYON (1895 - 1949)
Mary Elizabeth BOYLE (brother killed in opening
days of the War)
Catherine BRIDSON (Wirral)
Beatrix BRICE MILLER (d. c. 1958) - helper with the BEF in 1914
Sybil BRISTOWE (brother killed early 1917)
Vera BRITTAIN (1896 - 1970) (Nurse - VAD -
Brother killed in Italy)
Alice Mary BUCKTON (1867 - 1944) (Emigrated to
South Africa)
C.A.L.T.
May WEDDERBURN-CANNAN (1893 - 1973) (VAD +
Intelligence Service; engaged to Bevil Quiller-Couch)
Elizabeth CHANDLER FORMAN
Mary G. CHERRY
Frances A. CHESTERTON (1869 - 1938)
Frances A. CHESTERTON (1869 - 1938)
Mary
CHOLMONDELEY (niece of Stella Benson) (8.6.1859 – 15.07.1925) (worked as
a clerk in Carlton House Terrace Hospital)
Agatha CHRISTIE (nee Miller) (1890 – 1976 VAD
Torquay)
Isabel C. CLARKE (born Plymouth)
Alice E. COLLINGE (1869 – 1960)
Mary Gabrielle COLLINS
Frances CORNFORD (1886 – 1960)
Margaret CROPPER
Margaret CROPPER
Nancy CUNARD (1896 - 1965)
Elizabeth DARYUSH (Daughter of Robert Bridges)
(1887 - 1976)
Helena DEREZINSKA (Lancashire)
Helen DIRCKS
Eva DOBELL (1867 - 1963) (Niece of poet Sydney
Dobell) (Nurse)
Sarah DOUDNEY (1841 - 1926)
Sarah DOUDNEY (1841 - 1926)
O. DOUGLAS (Pen name of Anna Masterfar BUCHAN -
John Buchan's sister)
Agnes E. DREY (Lancashire)
Helen Parry EDEN (1885 -
Agnes FALCONER
Eleanor FARJEON (London; 1881 - 1965)
V. Helen FRIEDLAENDER
Lilian GARD
Alexandra Ethelreda GRANTHAM (eldest son killed
WW1)
Nora GRIFFITHS
I. GRINDLEY (Queen Mary's Army Auxilliary
Corps)
Diana GURNEY
Dorothy Frances GURNEY (1858 - 1932)
Dorothy Frances GURNEY (1858 - 1932)
Cicely HAMILTON (1872 - 1952) (organised nursing care; joined Army Aux. entertained troops)
Helen HAMILTON
Isabel WESTCOTT HARPER
Ada May HARRISON
Agnes CROZIER HERBERTSON
May HERSHEL-CLARKE
Ethel M. HEWITT
Constance HOLLAR
Winifred HOLTBY (Nursed in France)
Theresa HOOLEY
Violet HUNT
Isobel W. HUTCHISON
Isobel W. HUTCHISON
Mildred HUXLEY
Catherine M. JACKSON (Wirral)
Violet JACOB ( 1863 - 1947 Born Violet Kennedy-Erskine in Scotland m. Major Arthur Jacob of 20th Hussars - son killed on the Somme 1916)
Violet JACOB ( 1863 - 1947 Born Violet Kennedy-Erskine in Scotland m. Major Arthur Jacob of 20th Hussars - son killed on the Somme 1916)
Storm JAMESON
Elinor JENKINS (1893 - 1920)
Edith A. KAHIA (Lancashire)
Anna GORDON KEOWN
Annie L. KNOWLES (Lancashire)
Margery LAWRENCE
Winifred M. LETTS (1882 - 1972)
Olive E. LINDS
Geraldine E. LYSTER (Lancashire)
Irene Rutherford McLEOD
Dame Rose MACAULAY (1881 - 1958) (Descendent of
Lord Macaulay)
Helen MACKAY (1891 - 1965)
Nina MACDONALD
Miss Isobel MARCHBANK
Nina MARDEL (VAD)
Alice MAUD
Charlotte MEW
Alice MEYNELL (1847 - 1922)
Olga MILLER (nee KATZIN) 1896 -
Sophie MILLER
Frances Evelyn MILLETT
Sophie MILLER
Frances Evelyn MILLETT
Miss G.M. MITCHELL
Lady Gertrude MOBERLEY (1860 -
Edith NESBIT (1858 - 1924) (m. BLAND)
Eileen NEWTON
The Honourable Eleanour NORTON (1881 - )
Grace FALLOW NORTON (1876 - 1926)
Moira O'NEILL (1864 - 1955)
Carola OMAN (1897 - 1978) Nurse with Red +
Western Front 1916 - 1919 m. Sir Geralde Lenanton
Emily ORR
Florence OVERTON (Lancashire)
Margaret PETERSON (1883 - 1933. Pen name:
Glint Green)
Ruth PITTER (7 November 1897 - 29 February
1992) (Worked at the War Office 1915 - 1917
Jessie POPE (18.3.1868 - 14.12.1941 - b,
Leicester m. Babington Lenton
Dame Margaret POSTGATE COLE (1893 - 1980)
Irene R. POTTER
Mary PRALL
Irene R. POTTER
Mary PRALL
Marjorie PRATT
Louise PRIOR
Inez QUILTER
Dollie RADFORD (nee Maitland) (1858 – 1920)
Dorothy Una RATCLIFFE (1887 - 1967 b.
Yorkshire)
Constance Ada RENSHAW (Sheffield. 1891 - 1964)
Dorothy RICHARDSON (b. Abingdon 17th May 1873 -
d. Beckenham 17th June 1957. m. Alan Odle 1917)
Ursula ROBERTS (1887 - 1975) (b. India;
educated Highgate and London University) Pen name Susan MILES)
Margaret E. ROWNTREE (nee Fish m. 1926) (Born
Fleetwood 1899 - 1983)
Lady Margaret SACKVILLE
Vita SACKVILLE-WEST (1892 - 1962)
Dorothy L. SAYERS
Ethel SCHEFFAUER
Lady Aimee BYNG SCOTT (1868 - 1953)
Edith HOPE-SCOTT (Lancashire)
Fredegond SHOVE (nee MAITLAND) (1889 – 1949)
May SINCLAIR (born Rock Ferry, Wirral 1865 -
1946) Nurse in France 1914
Edith SITWELL (born Scarborough 1887 - 1964)
Cicely FOX SMITH (Born Lymm, Cheshire; educated
Manchester)
Stevie SMITH (1902 - 1971) "Not waving but
drowning"
Freya STARK (1893 - 1993)
Dorothy Margaret STEWART
Suzanne STONE
Suzanne STONE
Marie Carmichael STOPES (1880 - 1954) (First female science
lecturer at Manchester University)
Muriel STUART ( - 1967) (Founded P.E.N.
Club in 1921)
Millicent SUTHERLAND ((1867 - 1955)(Milicent
Gower, Duchess of Sutherland) (Nurse in France. Painted by Victor Tardieu)
Mary SYMON (Scottish)
Mary SYMON (Scottish)
Emily HOWSON TAYLOR (1879 -
Gwen TAYLOR
Rachel Annand TAYLOR (1876 - 1960)
Ruth TAYLOR
Judith BRUNDRETT-TWESDALE
Joan THOMPSON (With the Red Cross to France)
Gwen TAYLOR
Rachel Annand TAYLOR (1876 - 1960)
Ruth TAYLOR
Judith BRUNDRETT-TWESDALE
Joan THOMPSON (With the Red Cross to France)
Aelfrida TILLYARD (1883 -
Iris TREE (1897 - 1968) (Bloomsbury Group -
friend of Nancy Cunard)
Alys FANE TROTTER (1863 - 1962) lived in South
Africa during 1890s
Ada TYRELL
Evelyn UNDERHILL (worked with SSAFA and
Naval Intelligence)
Alberta VICKRIDGE (b. Bradford, Educated
Bradford Girls' Grammar. VAD nurse)
Viviane VERNE
Sylvia TOWNSEND WARNER (1893 - ) Worked in Munitions Factory
Mary WEBB (1881 - 1927 b. Leighton, nr. Wrekin,
Shropshire; educated Southport)
Mary Morison WEBSTER
M. Winifred WEDGWOOD (VAD)
Dorothy WELLESLEY (1889 - 1956)
Catherine DURNING WHETHAM (Devon)
Lucy WHITMELL
Anna WICKHAM (1884 - 1947)
Carolyn Crosby WILSON
Marjorie WILSON
Margaret L. WOODS
Elizabeth WORDSWORTH (1840 - 1932)
AMERICAN
Zoe AKINS (1886 - 1958)
Margaret Steele ANDERSON (1867 - 1921)
Karle Wilson BAKER (1878 - 1960)
Djuna BARNES (1892 - 1982)
Natalie Clifford BARNEY (1876 - 1972; lived in Paris for over 60 years)
Margaret Steele ANDERSON (1867 - 1921)
Karle Wilson BAKER (1878 - 1960)
Djuna BARNES (1892 - 1982)
Natalie Clifford BARNEY (1876 - 1972; lived in Paris for over 60 years)
Pauline BARRINGTON (1876 -
Katharine Lee BATES (12.081859 - 28.03.1929:
"America the Beautiful")
Louise BOGAN (1897 - 1970)
Louise BOGAN (1897 - 1970)
Mary BORDEN (lived in England. Mobile
hospital in France)
Amelia Josephine BURR (1878 - 1968)
Nancy CAMPBELL
Grace ELLERHY CHANNING (1862 - 1937; France and
Italy as a War Correspondent)
Florence van Leer Earle Nicholson COATES (1850 - 1927)
Florence van Leer Earle Nicholson COATES (1850 - 1927)
Helen Gray CONE (1859 - 1934)
Grace Hazard CONKLING (1878 - 1958)
Adelaide CRAPSEY
Adelaide CRAPSEY
Charlotte Holmes CRAWFORD
Olive TILFORD DARGAN
Mary Carolyn DAVIES
Hilda Dolittle or H.D. (1886 - 1961)
Vita DUTTON-SCUDDER (1861 - 1954)
Gabrielle ELLIOTT (American Fund for French Wounded; Nursing Committee for the Council of National Defence)
Gabrielle ELLIOTT (American Fund for French Wounded; Nursing Committee for the Council of National Defence)
S. Gertrude FORD
Lena GILBERT BROWN FORD
Theodosia GARRISON
Charlotte Perkins GILMAN (1860 - 1935)
Muriel Elsie GRAHAM (1909 - 1987)
Louise Imogen GUINEY (1861 - 1920)
Mary M.J. HENDERSON (Lived in UK. Went to
Russia and Serbia with Elsa Inglis)
Alice Corbin HENDERSON (1881 - 1949)
Katherine HOWARD
Amy LOWELL (1874 - 1925)
Florence RIPLEY MASTIN
Katherine HOWARD
Amy LOWELL (1874 - 1925)
Florence RIPLEY MASTIN
Moina BELLE MICHAEL (The Poppy Lady)
Ruth Comfort MITCHELL
Edna St. Vincent MILLAY
Harriet MONROE (Founded and edited "Poetry" the first American poetry magazine)
Marianne MOORE (1887 - 1972)
Aline MURRAY (1888 - 1941)
Grace Fallow NORTON (1876 - 1962)
Aline MURRAY (1888 - 1941)
Grace Fallow NORTON (1876 - 1962)
Dorothy PARKER (1893 - 1967)
Marge PIERCY
Lizette WOODWORTH REESE (1856 - 1935)
Laura E. Howe RICHARDS (1850 - 1943)
Edith Grenstead ROCHESTER
Laura E. Howe RICHARDS (1850 - 1943)
Edith Grenstead ROCHESTER
Edith RUTTER-LEATHAM
Vida Dutton SCUDDER (1861 - 1954)
Gertrude STEIN (1874 - 1946)
Charlotte PERKINS STETSON
Sarah TEASDALE
Lesbia THANET
Edith M. THOMAS (1854 - 1925)
Rose Hartwick THORPE (1850 - 1939)
Rose Hartwick THORPE (1850 - 1939)
Marie van VORST (Organised American Ambulance
Corps; set up workshops in Rome)
Grace O. VANAMEE (1876 - 1946)
Mrs G.O. WARREN
Edith WHARTON (1862 - 1937) (Paris WW1 - nursed)
Ella WHEELER WILCOX (1850 - 1919) (To the Western
Front in 1918)
Margaret WIDDAMER
Margaret ADELAIDE WILSON
AUSTRIA
*Ingeborg BACHMANN (1926 - 1973)
* Ingeborg is here because I have not yet found
any Austrian First World War poets and by kind permission and suggestion of
Mike Lyons, who translated some of Ingeborg's poems.
AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE
Rose Auslander (11.05.1901 – 03.01.1988)
AUSTRALIA
Emily BULCOCK (1877 - 1969)
Ada CAMBRIDGE A.C. (1844 - 1926)
Violet B. CRAMER
Zora CROSS (1890 - 1964)
Edith May ENGLAND (1899 - 1979)
Edith May ENGLAND (1899 - 1979)
Nellie EVANS (1883 - 1944)
May Hannay FOOT (1846 - 1918)
May Hannay FOOT (1846 - 1918)
Mary Elizabeth FULLERTON (1868 - 1946)
Dame Mary GILMORE (1965 - 1962)
Lesbia HARFORD (1891 - 1927)
Lesbia HARFORD (1891 - 1927)
Winsome JENNINGS
Alice GORE JONES (1887 - 1961)
Alice GORE JONES (1887 - 1961)
Marion KNOWLES
Dorothea McKELLAR
Nina MURDOCK (1890 - 1976)
Nina MURDOCK (1890 - 1976)
Agnes ROSE-SOLEY
Ethel TURNER (1870 - 1958 - born Doncaster,
England)
Elizabeth von AMIN (1866 - 1941)
BELGIAN
Marie NIZET
Alice NAHON (1896 - 1938)
Alice NAHON (1896 - 1938)
BRAZILIAN
Brazil declared war on Germany on 26th October 1917
Brazil declared war on Germany on 26th October 1917
Cora Coralina (20 August 1889 – 10 April 1985)
Cecilia Meireles (7.11.1901 – 9.11.1964)
Adaligsa Nery (29.10.1905 – 7.6.1980)
BULGARIA
BULGARIA
Bulgaria, which at that time was still recovering
from the effects of previous wars, joined WW1 on the side of the Central Powers
from 15th October 1915 when war was declared on Serbia until 30th
September 1918 when the Armistice of Thessalonica was signed.
Elisaveta BAGRYANA (1893 - 1991)
Dora GABE (1886 - 1983)
CANADIAN
Jean BLEWETT (1872 - 1934)
Helene Jane COLEMAN (1860 - 1953)
Marie JOUSSAYE (1864 - 1949)
Susan Frances HARRISON (1859 - 1935)
Norah M. HOLLAND (1876 - 1925)
Isabel MACKAY (Isabel Ecclestone - 1875 - 1928)
Lucy Maud MONTGOMERY (1874 - 1942)
Marjorie L.C. PICKTHALL (1883 - 1922)
Isabella WATSON (Poem about Edith Cavell)
Isabella WATSON (Poem about Edith Cavell)
CHILEAN
Chile helped the Allied cause by seizing the German-owned Nitrate and Copper mines
Chile helped the Allied cause by seizing the German-owned Nitrate and Copper mines
Gabriela MISTRAL (1889 - 1957 - pen name of
Lucila Godoy Alcayaga)
CHINESE
China sent a large contingent of workers to help 'behind the scenes'. They also helped clear up the aftermath. Many of them died and they are commemorated in a special cemetery
Bing XIN
DUTCH
Agnita FEIS
Henriette ROLAND HOLST (1869 - 1952)
Henriette ROLAND HOLST (1869 - 1952)
Augusta PEAUX (1859 - 1944)
Giza RITSCHL (1869 - 1942)
Nine van der SCHAAF (1882 - 1973)
Margo SHARTEN-ANTINK
Margo SHARTEN-ANTINK
Helene SWARTH (1859 - 1941)
Jacqueline van der WAALS (1868 - 1922)
FINLAND
FINLAND
Finland was part of the Russian Empire during the
First World War and some of her soldiers served in the Russian Army until they declared
independence on 6th December 1917.
Katri VALA (1901 - 1944)
Edith SODERGRAN (1892 - 1923)
FRENCH
Marie DAUGUET (1860 - 1942)
Lise DEHARME (1898? - 1980)
Lucie DELARUE-MARDRUS (1874 - 1945- nurse in
WW1)
Marguerite DURAND (Editor of La Fronde)
Rosemonde GERARD (1886 - 1953)
Miriam HARRY (Maria Rosette SHAPIRA)
Gerard d'HOUVILLE (Nom de plume - 1875 - 1963)
Amelie MURAT (1882 - 1940)
Anna de NOAILLES (1876 - 1933)
Louisa PAULIN (1888 - 1944)
Cecile PERIN (1877 - 1959)
Cecile SAUVAGE (1883 - 1927)
Colette YVER (
GERMAN
Vicky BAUM
Anna BAHR-HILDENBERG
Isla FRANKE (1881 - 1938)
Claire GOLL (1890 - 1977)
Emily HENNINGS (1885 - 1948)
Emily HENNINGS (1885 - 1948)
Elizabeth LANGASSER (1899 - 1950)
Berta LASK (
Thekla LINGEN
Lya MARA
Elizabeth PAULSEN
Nelly SACHS (1891 - 1970)
Nelly SACHS (1891 - 1970)
Else LASKER SCHULER
HEBREW
Rachel BLUWSTEIN (Rachel ISRAEL) (1890 - 1931)
INDIAN
Nalini Bala DEVI (1898 - 1977)
Sarojini NAIDU (1879 - 1949)
IRISH
Jane BARLOW (1857 - 1917)
Eva GORE BOOTH
Elizabeth BOWEN (Downe House Pupil WW1) (1899 - 1973)
Elizabeth BOWEN (Downe House Pupil WW1) (1899 - 1973)
Kathleen KNOX
May O'ROURKE (Became Secretary to Thomas Hardy
in 1923)
Dora SIGERSON SHORTER (1866 - 1918)
Katharine TYNAN (1861 - 1931)
Helen WADDELL
ITALIAN
Italy declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 23rd May 1915 and on Germany on 29th August 1916.
Italy declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 23rd May 1915 and on Germany on 29th August 1916.
Sibilla ALERAMO (1876 - 1960)
Elena CANINO (1898 - 1939)
Amalia GUGLIELMINETTI
Ada NEGRI
JAPANESE
Fukao SUMAKO (1893 - 1974)
Akiko YOSANO (1878 - 1942)
NEW ZEALAND
Mary Ursula BETHELL (1874 - 19450
Eileen DUGGAN (1894 - 1972)
Katherine MANSFIELD (1888 - 1923)
POLISH
Maria
PAWLIKOWSKA-JASNORZEWSKA (24.11.1891 Krakow – 09.07 1945 Manchester)
Magdalena SAMOZWANIEL (1894 - 1972)
Magdalena SAMOZWANIEL (1894 - 1972)
PORTUGUESE
Portugal is England's oldest ally - dating back to the time of John O'Gaunt whose daughter married the King of Portugal bringing tea and marmalade to England. Portugal sent troops, equipment and medial personnel to help the Allies during WW1
Portugal is England's oldest ally - dating back to the time of John O'Gaunt whose daughter married the King of Portugal bringing tea and marmalade to England. Portugal sent troops, equipment and medial personnel to help the Allies during WW1
Fernanda de CASTRO
Florbela ESPANCA
Marta MESQUITA DE CAMARA
Virginia VITORINO
ROMANIAN
Romania had been part of the Ottoman Empire but after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 - 1878, they declared independence and joined Russia
Romania had been part of the Ottoman Empire but after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 - 1878, they declared independence and joined Russia
Izabela SADOVEANU-EVAN (24.02.1870 –
06.08.1941)
Elena VACARESCU (21.9.1864 Bucharest –
17.02.1947 Paris)
Elizabeth of WIED (1843 - 1916) (Married King Carol I of Roumania)
RUSSIAN
Anna AKHMATOVA (1889 -1966 from the Ukraine)
Sophia PARNOK (1885 - 1933)
Marina TSVETAEVA (1892 - 1941)
Sophia PARNOK (1885 - 1933)
Marina TSVETAEVA (1892 - 1941)
SERBIAN
Jelena DIMITRIJEVIC (1862 - 1945)
Danica MARKOVIC (1879 - 1932)
Jelena SPIRIDONOVIC SAVIC (1890 – 974)
SOUTH AFRICAN
Edith L.M. KING (1871 - 1962)
SWEDEN
Elsa BESKOW (1874 - 1953)
SWEDEN
Elsa BESKOW (1874 - 1953)
