War - Tapa blanda

In 1999 I published a collection of my poems on the theme of war under the title War. This was in two parts. Later, in October 2003, I re-published this work with additions and called it War II. Both sets were distributed privately. It was my intention to produce War II in a hardback version for general sale. As a result of the invasion of Iraq by the USA and its allies, notably Britain, I had to rethink the presentation for the hardback edition so as to include some later work. The present collection, again titled WAR, includes under a single cover not only the poems from the earlier editions of war poems, but also four single poem publications in addition to the short compilation, Cenotaph. This accounts for the sectional nature of the presentation. The cover pages from the original productions have been incorporated into the book.

John Vetterlein was born in 1935. He spent the years of the Second World War close to London's East End and considers himself fortunate to have survived the V1 (flying bomb) and V2 (rocket) attacks. His father served throughout that war in the RAF. Having studied physics and mathematics, Vetterlein went on to work in civilian hospitals as a conscientious objector to military National Service. Before continuing his studies in chemistry and pharmacology, he worked as an astronomer and lecturer. In 1971, following a short spell as a secondary school teacher in London, Vetterlein moved to Wales in order to concentrate on writing and music. He worked in the Music Department, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth from 1983 until its closure in 1990 (he is a member of the Haydn Society of Great Britain, the Rachmaninoff Society and the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society). In addition, he took to travelling abroad as a musician and in order to gather material for his writing. John Vetterlein now lives and works in Orkney. His output includes sixteen novels, eighteen collections of poems and shorter compilations, plays for radio, over two hundred short stories, long stories, together with monographs and writings on a wide range of topics including astronomy, music, medical issues, photography and the wider environment.