LGBTQ War Poets and Artists
Prior to the advances of television and, today, technology to relay the actual horrors and tragedy of war, society relied on gifted painters and poets to convey the message and the visual. Often that message contrasted starkly with the patriotic fervor of the day. As the BBC article below points out, it is difficult to imagine such true beauty and prose coming out of war and military conflict.
There were notable LGBTQ war poets and painters in this group, mostly of English descent. For the poets, some of these died in battle and their work was published posthumously. Many of these individuals were given significant military and civilian honours, including the Military Cross and the Order of the British Empire.
We have been able to identify the following LGBTQ war poets and painters:
- Rupert Brooke, Great Britain
- Luis Cernuda, Spain
- Sir William Dobell, Australia
- Robert Graves, Great Britain
- Ivor Gurney, Great Britain
- Robert Medley, Great Britain
- Charlotte Mew, Great Britain
- Jack Nichols, Canada
- Wilfred Owen, Great Britain
- Bernard Perlin, United States
- Siegfried Sassoon, Great Britain
- Charles Sorley, Great Britain
See Also
Further Reading/Research
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/how/poetryandart.shtml
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/10202839/Architecture-of-War-exhibition-Are-these-painters-as-relevant-as-the-war-poets.html
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiewareham/2020/11/11/the-untold-gay-history-of-britains-first-world-war-poets-revealed/?sh=134f60ec722b
- https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/all-the-greatest-first-world-war-poets-were-queer-and-its-time-to-remember-them/
