Don Coles was born in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. He attended the local schools, then the University of Toronto for BA in Modern History and M.A. in English Literature. The then went to Cambridge University to further his M.A. in English Literature. He was awarded a Regent's Prize (for English Literature) at Victoria College, U. of T., and a British Council Grant (for travel to and time in Italy) while at Cambridge University.

Life, Career, and Writing — Various addresses in Europe: London, Stockholm, Florence, Munich, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Zurich; did translations, had a grant, sold medical textbooks from a barrow and a shop, was intermittently a remittance-person; wrote plays in prose and in verse, and two unpublished novels; a chapter of one of these entitled 'A Door in the River', appeared in The Tamarack Review (Summer 1964). Married Heidi Goelnitz of Luebeck, Germany, daughter Sarah was born in Copenhagen and son Luke in Toronto.

Appointed part-time lecturer in Humanities at York University in 1965, various upgradings to Professor by 1977; taught in and was Director of the Creative Writing Programme at York; began publishing poetry during these years and has to date published ten collections of poems in Canada, one in England. Was Poetry Editor for the Banff School of the Fine Arts for ten years (1984-1994). Spends most of his sabbaticals in Cambridge, England, preferably on Barrow Road in that town.

Pleasures — Family. Reading literary biographies. Rereading great old novels (Tolstoy, Geo. Eliot, A. Trollope, T. Mann, Robert Musil). Also more recent very good novels or tales (Murdoch and Nabokov; P.O'Brian). In poetry, T.Hardy, E.Thomas, P.Larkin. Walking the Lab. Playing lots of tennis and watching lots of TV.

Don Coles's works copyright © to the author.