Dulce et Decorum Est…

Last night, I was delighted to be able to attend The Wilfred Owen Association’s Annual Birthday Lecture and listen to the very talented Martin Impey talk about the inspiration and research behind his incredible illustrations for Owen’s poem, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’.

I first fell in love with Martin’s work when I read the ‘Poppies’ series of books, written by Hilary Robinson, which are full of his detailed and endearing illustrations, chronicling the lives of best friends, Ben and Ray, and later, Lily, through the First World War. This is a series I have often used with children in school as each book conveys very poignant and ‘difficult’ subject matter in a way children can easily understand. The bonds of friendship and loyalty, the sense of hope and love these books convey, supported by Martin’s powerful illustrations, make them perfect for starting and developing discussions and their attention to detail offers a teacher many opportunities to deepen learning about and understanding of this time.

In addition to this series, Martin and Hilary collaborated on ‘A Song for Will and the Lost Gardeners of Heligan’, one of my all-time favourite books and again, one which I often share in school. The level of detail and research in this book is incredible and I have spent a happy afternoon at Heligan Gardens, matching the locations depicted by Martin in the book to the real life sites. With children, I have looked at the census returns and other historical documents which show that these were living, breathing people whilst enjoying the story these master story-tellers have developed.

Knowing how thoughtfully Martin researches his subjects, I was not surprised by the stunning and deeply poignant images he created for ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, but listening to his talk, I was completely mesmerised by the lengths he had gone to before he had developed his images. Martin’s understanding of Owen and his work- his letters and opinions as well as his poems- was incredible and there were many links and references in the pictures which I had missed, making me realise (once again!) how magical it is to be able to listen to authors and illustrators talk about their work.

The Association is clearly full of members who are passionate about Owen and his work and the question session which followed Martin’s talk was full of interesting points which can really only be raised by those with a deep knowledge and understanding of the subject, but I listened with interest and have decided to re-read the two biographies which I have about the man himself with fresh eyes and fresh interest.

Thanks to the Association for hosting such an interesting event and thanks to Martin for being as fascinating as ever!

Dulce et Decorum Est poem by Wilfred Owen, illustrated by Martin Impey

Strauss House Productions ISBN: 978-1527218253