We grew a hundred years older: poets on the First World War

The sky fell to earth in pieces
And nowhere is there a flower
who lives unharmed.
The earth stinks of blood,
that splashes from the sky.
The wound is big
and not to be healed.
(From: War - Theo van Doesburg)

Anger, despair, fear, unbearable sadness, but also compassion and hope. The First World War unleashed intense emotions in everyone involved. On both sides of the front line, soldiers, nurses, doctors and those left behind on the home front wrote down their experiences in gripping verses. It was their way of trying to grasp and process the horror of war. Now, a hundred years later, their voices continue to move, fascinate and shudder. Their poems enrich the image and memory of the Great War, which does not seem to be going away.

CHRIS SPRIET made a beautiful, often unusual selection of translated and original Dutch war poetry. The poems are arranged thematically and supplemented with biographies of the poets. In addition, the book contains the urgent testimony of Margi Blunden, whose father Edmund was marked by what he experienced during the war. Actor Wim Opbrouck provided the texts with sober but powerful illustrations. A haunting book to commemorate the First World War in an appropriate manner.