In Paper Trombones poet and scholar Mike Doyle shares musings on poetry – his own and others’ – drawn from informal journal notes of the past thirty years. Born in London of Irish descent, Doyle lived in New Zealand before moving to Victoria, BC. As a poet and academic on three continents, Doyle recalls fascinating encounters with prominent literary figures – from Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath to Basil Bunting, Anne Sexton, Robert Creeley, James Wright, Robert Bly, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, George Woodcock and various Canadian poets. With candid commentary on his wide reading in poetry, philosophy and criticism, Mike Doyle is a personable guide to the currents of contemporary literature. Pound, Williams, Stevens, Modernism and the language and Black Mountain schools, are discussed, as well as Keats, Coleridge and Hardy, both in terms of the writing and the effect on Doyle’s poems. An accessible journey through a personal landscape of poetry, Paper Trombones will appeal to those interested in the art of poetry and the dialogue on contemporary literature. The volume also includes some out of print poems mentioned in the notes.

Mike Doyle, whose background is Irish, grew up in London, England and has lived in Canada for more than thirty years. He has written numerous books of poetry, as well as books on William Carlos Williams and James T. Baxter, a biography of Richard Aldington, plus critical essays on Williams, Wallace Stevens, H.D. and others. His home is in Victoria, B.C., and he spends the winter in Mexico.