Wilfred Owen: A New Biography

by Dominic Hibberd

Mr. Hibberd's new biography of the Great War's greatest poet, based on more than thirty years of wide-ranging research, brings new information and reinterpretation to virtually every phase of Owen's life―carefully guarded by family and friends after his death. Although Dominic Hibberd modestly says that his book 'is not, of course, definitive,' it is hard to see how it could be improved upon. ―Times Literary Supplement

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Poetry, History, World War I, War, LGBT

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Dominic Hibberd was a British author, academic, and broadcaster, best known for his biographies of Wilfred Owen and Harold Monro, as well as his influential anthologies of First World War poetry. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Honorary Fellow of the War Poets Association, he edited key collections including Poetry of the Great War (with John Onions) and contributed extensively to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Educated at Rugby School and King's College, Cambridge, Hibberd taught in the UK, the US, and China before dedicating himself fully to writing.

Reviews

[Julie Bozza · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read of this much-loved book, for reasons that might be obvious!

♦

While I certainly appreciated the 1974 biography by Jon Stallworthy, this 2002 effort by Dominic Hibberd is the definitive one. There is lots of detail about all aspects and periods of Wilfred Owen's life - but in particular it accepts that Owen was gay, and explores a little of that part of his life as well.

Owen was an interesting person in his own right, and it is fascinating to explore him as both a poet and a soldier. These two occupations were often in direct conflict, but we are the richer for it. He was carefully planning his first volume of verse, organised by 'Motive', with the following words in the Preface:

"Above all I am concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity."

He was killed at the age of 25 - the same tragically young age as Keats - and we are the poorer for that. Owen wasn't known by the general public in his day, but he had (on his own merits) established friendships and a reputation with some literary lights of the day. Who knows what he would have gone on to accomplish?

But he was killed in the last battle of the Great War, only a week before Armistice. This story of his life is both marvellous and heart-breaking, affirming and ... oh, almost agonising.

"The Poetry is in the pity."

[Mab · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never particularly intended to read a biography of Wilfred Owen but this had found its way onto my to read shelf in some way so I picked it up, and I'm so glad I did. Owen was so much more interesting than I knew (I didn't think he was boring, just sort of vaguely thought I knew what I needed to about him), and in fact this biography is a really good reminder that everyone is a fascinating and nuanced individual in the right, patient, hands. Hibberd is an exceptional biographer.

Also I am now fascinated by Harold Owen. What an odd, slightly sad man.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hibberd does a fabulous job at making the long-dead Owen come to life. I tried delaying finishing it because as I read on, I felt like I knew him as a friend. Then all I could do was wish to learn more, and lament how much of his work was burned at his request or how many of his letters were mutilated by his brother, ashamed of what they'd reveal. It's a highly detailed, absorbing portrait of a poet, but it still highlights how much we don't know and may never know. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in Owen, the Great War, or biography in general.

[John Vanderslice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happened upon this book in a public library and could not help but pick it up, having long admired Owen's WW 1 poems. Little did I know how much there was to know about his complicated biography. I knew nothing about his relationship with his mother and siblings, nothing about his self-styled literary education, and nothing about his life prior to enlisting. It's a great book, well researched and extremely careful in its conclusions. A very good reappraisal of a poet who if not already great during his war period certainly would have been if allowed by fate to live. If nothing else, Hibberd makes that clear. Owen was so close to surviving the war it's heartbreaking.

[rem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely the best biography I have ever read. I took it with me on a trip to France, and reading the corresponding pages right after visiting the places that Owen had been made it an even more emotional experience than it would have been in any case.

[Kevin Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this on a Battlefields tour to the Western Front. Learnt so much about Owen and it helped me piece together the poems with the locations and battles that inspired them. As a huge Owen fan, this was absolutely outstanding.

[Claire]

The best biography so far of this somewhat mysterious and mythologised poet - certainly the first that treats him as a human being, with human wants and desires, rather than either a saint or a weirdo. Owen's tragic, early death in combat, less than a week before the end of the war in 1918, looms large over his story, robbing English letters of a man who was already becoming a truly remarkable poet by the time of his demise, but Hibberd never loses sight of the fact that his subject was both soldier and poet, with all that entails. Brilliantly written, and an enthralling and fascinating account of an all-too short life.

[Elizabeth Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

6/5 stars. I am left both immensely appreciative yet deeply upset and saddened after finishing this book. Dominic Hibberd has truly outdone himself with his work and devotion to Wilfred Owen in all stages of Owen’s life. Reflection on Owen’s life in detail is where I find myself torn. Hibberd has shown us all the important and even private, intimate details of Owen’s life, presenting him as a regular man, but also as a friend who’s company we have come to enjoy and love greatly. However, at least for me, this book is written so well about the events of his life that it almost doesn’t prepare you for his death; how useless it truly was, as the battle that was his last was also the last of the war, literally days away from Armistice. It is truly a pity that his poetry started taking a shape of its own in the last year and a half of his life, remaining virtually unknown. While it echoed people who he had long admired, both dead and living in his time, it had truly started to reflect his own vision, what stories he wanted to tell. This book has become one of my favorite books ever, and I am so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to read it. I look forward to reading Hibberd’s other books on Owen. This book has only fueled my Wilfred Owen obsession even more. After reading this, I feel more sure of myself to tackle my thesis, and hopefully read and analyze his poems in the manner he intended. If not already there before, I now only have the utmost and profound respect for Wilfred Owen, the man, the soldier, the poet.

[Delphine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive overview of Owen's life and works. Dominic Hibberd introduces new elements as he traces the poet's growth: from his early pupil-teacher training to his assistance to a parson, and from a suntanned dandy in France to a disciplined soldier/poet in WWI.

The strongest chapters are those on the main turning points in Owen's life: the loss of his religion, which put a strain on his suffocating relationship with his mother Susan, and the shell blast at Savy Wood, which caused shell shock and a general breakdown, after which Owen was admitted to Craiglockhart War Hospital.

Hibberd manages to capture Owen's biggest pleasures (the company of children, the discovery of Wordsworth, Keats, the French decadent and Georgian poets) and fears: his horror of being an elementary school teacher, the discovery of his own 'wrong' sexual orientation, the rumour that he was a 'coward' after suffering shell shock. Hibberd devotes a lot of attention to Owen's poems, including technical details (his invention of 'pararhyme', focus on the elegiac tradition of his work), which is definitely a bonus as this is not always present in a literary biography.

And yet this biography suffers from its own weight: it's so dense with (often unimportant) names and details that it impedes swift, engaging reading. The final chapters especially are nearly entirely devoted to military strategy and brush over Owen's death rather too quickly.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this might be the best biography I've ever read. It's not just informative it's also hugely readable, it draws you in and engages both intellect and emotions. Hibberd's command of the facts of Owen's life, the content of his poetry, the progress of the war, and the society of the time is deeply impressive. I've read that this was the culmination of 30 years of research and I could well believe it. It's never presented as dry research though. While not allowing emotion and speculation to carry him away, Hibberd has a gift for writing in a way that helps you understand and identify with the poet. It feels like a much less ‘idealised’ version of Owen than has been presented in the past and it makes him feel all the more human and engaging.
I can’t recommend this highly enough, if you’re interested in Owen or WWI this book will not disappoint. Even you don’t start out interested though I imagine this book could very quickly drag anyone in.

[Stephen Robert Kuta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long been an avid reader of wartime poetry and have always enjoyed reading the work of Wilfred Owen, which is the reason I bought this biography a few years ago.
This book has sat on my bookshelf ever since gathering dust - longing to be read, I don’t know why I waited so long. I was captivated by this biography and enthralled by the life of Wilfred Owen. What a remarkable man, and in so short a time living a full life.
His death was a great loss, so many words waiting to be written, that never were.
Dominic Hibberd has done an incredible job bringing this man to life, I visually saw him as I read through the detailed pages.
Remarkable it was.
I think this book will always hold a special place in my heart.
Or at least Wilfred Owen will.

[Brian Coey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such research deserves kudos.

Having read other versions of Wilfred Owen, this is by far the best. It held me throughout. Thank you D Hibbert.

[Ken Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read about one of the most skilled poets of the 20th Century.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This new biography of the poet who gave us some of the most direct and affecting poetry of the Great War is an excellent, well-balanced read. While Hibberd delves more deeply into the personal and family life of Wilfred Owen than have previous biographers, he doesn't neglect the growth of the poet along with the man. Dealing frankly not only with Owen's evolving religious skepticism and his growth out of Keats and Shelley towards modern Decadent and Georgian poetry, but with the heretofore suppressed topic of his homosexuality (inextricably intertwined with his progress as a poet), Hibberd shows clearly how a former Anglican assistant pastor, driven by a responsibility to witness to and care for the men he led into battle, could become one of the great poets of war and its after-effects.

The book is frank but not sensational, and freely acknowledges that there is much of Owen's life and private thought that we will never know, thanks in large part to the censorship and destruction of "compromising" letters by Owen's surviving brother Harold. However, the wealth of material and the many scholarly resources involved make this perhaps the best and most complete biography yet of this essential poet and soldier.

[Scott Humphreys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether you enjoy the poems of Wilfred Owen or not, his short but eventful life is symbolic testimony to one of the most tragic periods in British history. It is ironic that his experience of war was to bring out the best in his work, and the fact he was to die only a few days before it ended is a terrible loss. For me Wilfred Owen always felt like an enigmatic character of war that, apart from his poetry, no one really knew anything about, but this book really brings him to life. It is extremely well researched and thoughtfully written, and when I'd finished it almost felt like I'd actually experienced a little of his life. A great read!

[Simon Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

100 years on from the beginning of the First World War Wilfred Owen remains the most famous of the War poets. The events of his life are well known. He went to war, suffered Shell shock and was killed A mere 5 days before the end of the war. The truth though is, as always, this and much more.
Hibberd's biography gives us a picture of a man who was difficult, ambitious, and driven and whose relationship with his mother was less than healthy.
Hibberd writes well and the biography is well researched. My one criticism is that at times it wears it's research on its sleeves and is a little too dense to be a really enjoyable read.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely one of the best biographies I've ever read. I feel utterly bereft now I've finished reading this. I kept wishing that history could somehow rewrite itself as I approached the last chapter...

[Christine Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than just a biography. The details of Owens life are presented in a very readable way with an astonishing amount of background. The 'under fire' actions are vivid in their description. 4 stars only because I prefer Sassoon!

[Shannon McCue · Rating 4 out of 5]

hibberd's style is pretty sweet.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic biography-Hibberd keeps enough distance from Owen so his account doesn't come across as too gushing, and his account of Owen's campaigns and battles were well written

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustive biography of the poet which gives good coverage of his pre-war work. Accessible style. Nice illustrations and maps.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thoroughly researched biography of Wilfred Owen. I found it easier to read than others.