I first saw and met Paul Dutton in, I think, when he came to London with 4
Horsemen.
He may not thank me for starting with what he was doing 25 years ago and I
certainly don't mean to judge him by what he was doing then, remarkable as 4
Horsemen was.
That group was remarkable in itself - seeing them changed me as an artist in
many ways for the better; but its qualities arose from the remarkable
qualities of the individuals.
So, to go back to my beginning, I know for a certainty that Paul Dutton has
been an important poet for a quarter of a century; and from that I infer an
even greater artistic longevity.
I don't mean to make us feel old, but to draw attention to the magnitude of
his achievement. Every time I see him perform - and I wish that I could see
him perform more often - he has improved - he has refined his technique, he
has produced something new which clearly builds on what he has learned from
earlier work, he has widened his range...
It is a varied and rich output, from linear textual to improvised utterance,
though even what seem non-lexical usually have a basis in the lexicon. He
has called *that aspect "sound-singing". I'd stress the *singing there and
in all the resonances of that word.
Music is a major element in Dutton's work. It doesn't just influence his
work, it often *is his work. He performs with musicians and he writes about
music. His poetry uses musical procedures. As his work viewed as literature
is impossible to fit into specific literary genres, so his work as a whole
is not possible to put into one box - it crosses the boundary between music
and literature without showing a pass to anyone.... and visual art informs
and suffuses his writing / composition
This approach, at this level of achievement, makes Paul Dutton a very
important artist, not just in Canada - to the degree to which I can make
such a judgement with occasional visits from here - but anywhere. If Will
Rowe was right in his recent lecture, when he postulated a new poetic of
which Maggie O'Sullivan could be an example or at least a precursor, then
I'd offer Paul Dutton as another candidate! But at that point, I think, I am
going beyond my self-imposed brief...
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is an immense pleasure to introduce Paul Dutton
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