Paper Trombones: Notes on Poetics

by Mike Doyle

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.

166 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2007