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{{Short description|Canadian poet and novelist}}
'''Donald L. Coles''' (April 12, 1927 – November 29, 2017) was a Canadian poet and novelist.<ref>[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009199 Don Coles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607113852/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009199 |date=2011-06-07 }}. ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]''.</ref> He won the 1993 [[Governor General's Award]] for [[English poetry]] for his collection ''Forests of the Medieval World'' and the [[Trillium Book Award]] in 2000 for his collection ''Kurgan''.<ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/don-coles-90-a-revered-poet-who-wrote-mind-expanding-verse/article37352399/ "Don Coles, 90, a revered poet who wrote mind-expanding verse"]. ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', December 15, 2017.</ref>

He was born on April 12, 1927, in [[Woodstock, Ontario]]. He attended the [[University of Toronto]] and received a B.A in modern History in 1949, and an M.A in English Literature in 1952. He then attended the [[University of Cambridge]], where he eventually earned a second M.A in Canadian Literature.<ref>FRANK D. ZINGRONE,[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009199] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607113852/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009199 |date=2011-06-07 }}, Coles, Donald L.</ref> Coles' writing began to take off after he received a British Council grant, which allowed him a year in Italy.<ref name="DON COLES : INTERVIEWS">{{Cite web |url=http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/coles/interview.htm |title=DON COLES : INTERVIEWS, Canadian Poetry Online |access-date=2010-11-04 |archive-date=2007-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429094027/http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/coles/interview.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Coles spent the following ten to twelve years traveling around Europe and lived in London, Stockholm, Florence, Munich, Copenhagen, Hamburg, and Zurich. Coles had struggled with writing and while in Europe he wrote two unpublished novels. "I was bad at characterization, I was bad at dialogue, I was bad at plot…" he told the ''[[National Post]]''.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|329832985}} |last1=O'Reilly |first1=Finbarr |title=Finding success at a mug's game: 'I feel more comfortable saying that I write poetry, rather than that I am a poet,' says Don Coles |newspaper=National Post |date=10 May 2001 |page=B16 }}</ref>

After he returned home in 1965 he joined the faculty of [[York University]], where he worked for 30 years. He taught [[humanities]], and was the director of the creative writing program. Furthermore, he was the senior editor at the Banff Centre for the Arts from 1984 to 1994. Coles was influenced by many British writers during the time he was living in Europe. These early influences were Thomas Hardy, Philip Larkin, Donald Hall, John Berryman and [[Margaret Atwood]], with whom he worked at [[York University]].<ref name="DON COLES : INTERVIEWS"/>

Coles first began writing poetry around 1966, and soon published his first collection, ''Sometimes All Over'', in 1975 with [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]. Coles' first novel, ''Doctor Bloom's Story'' was not published until 2004. His other poetry collections, seven of which were published in Canada and one published in England, included ''Anniversaries'' (1979); ''The Prinzhorn Collection'' (1982); ''Landslides'': selected poems, 1975-1985 (1986); ''K. in Love'' (1987); ''Little Bird'' (1991); ''Forests of the Medieval World'' (1993); ''Someone Has Stayed in Stockholm'' (1994, published in England); and ''[[For the Living and the Dead]]'' (1996, a translation from the Swedish). Coles died on November 29, 2017, at the age of ninety.<ref>[http://porcupinesquill.ca/bookinfo3.php?index=234 Books In Print, The Porcupine's Quill] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706194017/http://porcupinesquill.ca/bookinfo3.php?index=234 |date=July 6, 2011 }}</ref>

==Works==

===Publications===
* ''Sometimes All Over'', Macmillan of Canada, 1975 : Poetry-collection
* ''Anniversaries'', Macmillan of Canada, 1979: Poetry-collection
* ''The Prinzhorn Collection'', Macmillan of Canada, 1982: Poetry-collection
* ''Landslides'', McClelland & Stewart,1986: Poetry-new and selected
* ''K. in Love'', Signal Editions, 1987: Poetry-linked
* ''Little Bird'', Signal Editions, 1991: Poetry
* ''Forests Of the Medieval World'', The Porcupine's Quill, Inc., 1993: Poetry-collection
* ''Someone Has Stayed In Stockholm'', Arc Publications, UK, 1994: Poetry- new and selected
* ''[[For the Living and the Dead]]'', Buschekbooks, Ottawa, 1996
* ''Kurgan'', Porcupine's Quill, Erin, Ontario, Canada, 2000
* ''Doctor Bloom's story'', Toronto: A.A. Knopf Canada, 2004. 1st ed. : Novel
* ''How We All Swiftly'', Signal Editions, 2005 : The first six books
* ''A dropped glove in Regent Street'', Signal Editions, 2007
* ''The essential Don Coles'', Porcupine's Quill, 2009<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/coles/pub.htm |title=DON COLES : PUBLICATIONS, Canadian Poetry Online |access-date=2010-11-04 |archive-date=2011-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206152326/http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/coles/pub.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* ''Where We Might Have Been'', Signal Editions, 2010
* "A Serious Call," Porcupine's Quill, 2015

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://archivesfa.library.yorku.ca/fonds/ON00370-f0000125.htm Don Coles archives] at the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, [[York University]]

{{Governor General's English poetry|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coles, Don}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian male writers]]
[[Category:Canadian male poets]]
[[Category:Canadian male novelists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of York University]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Governor General's Award–winning poets]]
[[Category:People from Woodstock, Ontario]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian poets]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian translators]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian translators]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian male writers]]
[[Category:Canadian male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Poets from Ontario]]
[[Category:Novelists from Ontario]]

Don Coles - Revision history

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