In literature and films
Stephen MacDonald's play, Not About Heroes, first performed in 1982, takes as its subject matter the friendship between Owen and Sassoon, and begins with their meeting at Craiglockhart during World War I.[70]
Pat Barker's historical novel, Regeneration (1991), describes the meeting and relationship between Sassoon and Owen,[71] acknowledging that, from Sassoon's perspective, the meeting had a profoundly significant effect on Owen. Owen's treatment with his own doctor, Arthur Brock, is also touched upon briefly. Owen's death is described in the third book of Barker's Regeneration trilogy, The Ghost Road (1995).[72] In the 1997 film Regeneration, Stuart Bunce played Owen.[73]
Owen is the subject of the BBC docudrama Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale (2007), in which he is played by Samuel Barnett.[74]
Owen was mentioned as a source of inspiration for one of the correspondents in the epistolary novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2008), by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.[75]
In Harry Turtledove's multi-novel Southern Victory Series, the title of the third volume, Walk in Hell, is taken from a line in "Mental Cases". That part of the series is set during an alternate history version of World War I, which sees Canada invaded and occupied by United States troops. On the title page, Owen is acknowledged as the source of the quote.
The Burying Party (2018), depicts Owen's final year, from his time at Craiglockhart Hospital up to the Battle of the Sambre (1918). Matthew Staite stars as Owen and Joyce Branagh as his mother Susan.[76][77][78]
Owen, portrayed by Matthew Tennyson, and his friendship with Siegfried Sassoon (Jack Lowden), are depicted in Benediction, a 2021 biographical-drama film, directed by Terence Davies.
In music
His poetry has been reworked into various formats. For example, Benjamin Britten incorporated eight of Owen's poems into his War Requiem, along with words from the Latin Mass for the Dead (Missa pro Defunctis). The Requiem was commissioned for the reconsecration of Coventry Cathedral and first performed there on 30 May 1962.[79] Derek Jarman adapted it for the screen in 1988, with the 1963 recording as the soundtrack.[80]
The Ravishing Beauties recorded Owen's poem "Futility" in an April 1982 John Peel session.[81]
Also in 1982, 10,000 Maniacs recorded a song titled "Anthem for Doomed Youth", loosely based on the poem, in Fredonia, New York. The recording appeared on their first EP release Human Conflict Number Five and later on the compilation Hope Chest. Also appearing on the Hope Chest album was the song "The Latin One", a reference to the title of Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" on which the song is based.
Additionally in 1982, singer Virginia Astley set the poem "Futility" to music she had composed.[82]
In 1992, Anathema released The Crestfallen EP, with the song "They Die" quoting lines from Owen's poem "The End", which also formed the epitaph on his grave in Ors.
Rudimentary Peni issued their single "Wilfred Owen the Chances" in 2009. The lyrics are from Owen's poem, "The Chances".[83]
Wirral musician Dean Johnson created the musical Bullets and Daffodils, based on music set to Owen's poetry, in 2010.[84]
In 2010 Canadian indie pop band, The High Dials, released an album Anthems for Doomed Youth, the title referencing Owen's poem "Anthem for Doomed Youth".[85]
In 2015, the British indie rock band, The Libertines, released an album entitled Anthems For Doomed Youth; this featured the track "Anthem for Doomed Youth", named after Owen's poem.[86]
His poetry is sampled multiple times on the 2000 Jedi Mind Tricks album Violent by Design.[87][88] Producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind has been widely acclaimed for his sampling on the album, and inclusion of Owen's poetry.
