Women in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire turn to verse to share their memories of war. Poems of loss, conflict, joy, bravery, friendship, love and peace, are written in the multitude of tongues that now populate the region. A myriad of voices speak in familiar, local dialects and in beautiful Arabic, Sierra Leonean, Swahili, Oromo (Ethiopia). Voices come together simply to remember.

Women were writing poetry about war and its consequences before the now legendary First World War poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen made their indelible marks. Women turned to poetry to express their emotions, the upheaval of war, the experience of nursing the wounded, and the agonised turmoil of having to wait at home for news of loved ones.

Women, who were not allowed to participate directly in war, were free to write protest poems against war. And they did it all again in the Second World War.

Wars continue, yet women are writing still: their voices as strong as ever.’

Part of Untold Hull www.untoldhull.org