Next Wilfred Owen may be a Wilma as women dominate war poetry list

A CENTURY ago the poetry of war, like the act itself, was mostly undertaken by men.

But a competition to find a modern-day Wilfred Owen has seen women take three of five finalist slots, including a military wife who has treated veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

The national search for a poem that captures a “modern-day perspective on service, conflict and humankind’s ability to overcome adversity” was launched in February by the Duke of Cambridge.

Over 5,000 entries were received, with the shortlist of the final five picked by a panel of judges including Dan Snow, Stephen Fry and Andy Mcnab.

A public vote to decide the winner opened yesterday and will close on June 9. Among the finalists is Debbie Lawson, 63, a nurse at Stoke Mandeville hospital near Aylesbury.

Her husband was in the RAF and her son-in-law served in Afghanistan. Her entry, “One for the Team”, recites the words a friend says to a fallen comrade.

“I keep seeing you mate, intact and laughing, holding up your baby to make us smile,” it starts. “We carried you home, silent and broken, you really took one for the team that day.”

Julia Read, 68, from Wareham, Dorset, whose uncle died in the First World War, and Julie Stamp, 58, from near Dover, whose father was in the Territorial Army, are also finalists.

Making up the shortlist are Edward Rogers, 67, from Fife, whose father was a veteran of the D-day landings, and Peter De Ville, 73, a retired lecturer, who was inspired by the sight of a rehabilitation centre being build near Loughborough where he lives.

The competition marks the creation of the Defence National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC) and the centenary year of the end of the First World War.

The state-of-the-art multi million pound facility will provide neurological and complex trauma care and a full suite of rehabilitative facilities on one site when it opens later this year.

Prince William, a patron of the DNRC, based at Stanford Hall, near Loughborough, will read the winning entry at an event this summer.

“It has been wonderful to see the encouraging response to this competition… I greatly look forward to seeing which winner the public chooses,” he said.

To read all five poems and for more information on how to vote visit: www.poemtoremember.co.uk