DUTTON, Paul 1943-
(Four Horsemen)

PERSONAL: Born December 29, 1943, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; son of Cuthbert J. (an accountant) and Eileen (Danaher) Dutton. Education: Attended University of Western Ontario, 1961-65. Politics: "None."

ADDRESSES: Home—68 Kendal Ave., Apt. 1, Toronto, Ontario M5R 1L9, Canada.

CAREER: Poet. Substitute teacher at public schools in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1967-69; Prentice-Hall of Canada, Toronto, production editor, 1969-71; McClelland & Stewart Ltd., Toronto, copywriter, 1971-78; Holt, Rinehart & Winston of Canada Ltd., Toronto, promotion manager, 1978-82; John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd., Toronto, marketing manager, 1982-86; full-time writer, musician, and performer, 1986—. Has given poetry readings and performances throughout Canada, Europe, and the United States, often with the group The Horsemen. Metro Focus/Rogers Cable Television, book reviewer, 1982-83.

MEMBER: League of Canadian Poets.

WRITINGS:

Choral and Orchestral Music from Leeds (sound recording), Abbey (Southport, England), 1971.

English and Italian Duets (sound recording), Abbey (Southport, England), 1972.

So'Nets (poetry), Ganglia Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1976.

The Book of Numbers (poetry and prose), Coach House Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1979.

(With Sandra Braman) spokesheards (poetry), Longspoon Press (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), 1983.

Additives, Imprimerie Dromadaire (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988.

Several Women Dancing (novel), Mercury Press (Georgetown, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Author and composer of the cassette "Fugitive Forms," Membrane Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1987. Work represented in anthologies, including The Poets of Canada, edited by John Robert Colombo, Hurtig (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), 1978; The New Canadian Poets, 1970-1985, edited by Dennis Lee, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1985; and Into the Night Life, edited by M. Cochrane and Dennis Lee, Nightwood Editions (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1986. Contributor of poetry, fiction, and essays to periodicals, including Canadian Forum, Descant, Gryphon, Musicworks, Capilano Review, Open Letter, and Rune.

with rafael barreto-rivera, steve mccaffery, and bpnichol; as the four horsemen

Horse d'Oeuvres (poetry), General Publishing (Canada), 1975.

A Little Nastiness (poetry), grOnk (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1980.

Schedule for Another Place (poetry), Bookslinger (St. Paul, MN), 1981.

The Prose Tattoo: Selected Performance Scores, Membrane Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1983.

Author and composer of record albums, including Canadada, Griffin House, 1973, Live in the West, Starborne Productions, 1977, and Blues, Roots, Legends, Shouts and Hollers, Starborne Productions, 1980; also author and composer of the cassette 2 Nights/4 Horsemen, Underwhich Editions (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988. Work represented in anthologies, including The Story So Four, edited by Steve McCaffery and bpNichol, Coach House Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1976; and Sound Poetry: A Catalogue, edited by Steve McCaffery and bpNichol, Underwhich Editions (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1978.

SIDELIGHTS: Paul Dutton once told CA: "The primary motivation for my writing has been the impulse to create beauty with language and to explore its potential for emotional communication and discovery. I remain fascinated with the richness and ambiguity of words, the secrets of the unconscious that they can reveal, and their ability to lead one to truth. In all of this, sound and rhythm in language are of critical importance to me. I remain constantly aware of the fact that speech is a bodily function, and this has led me to the composition of abstract vocal pieces, such as can be heard on Blues, Roots, Legends, Shouts and Hollers, Fugitive Forms, and in my work with The Four Horsemen. When you consider the vast range of sounds that the human organism is capable of emitting and that the English language avails itself of only forty-five of them, you can understand the impetus to construct nonverbal 'voice poems.' The energizing factor (for performer and audience) adds further appeal to this means of visceral communication.

"A key circumstance in my career has been my work with The Four Horsemen which provides an ongoing framework for development of language performance and of more traditional literary expression. My poetry and prose have benefited inestimably from the workshop character of the group's interaction. The Four Horsemen formed in Toronto in 1970 after Barreto-Rivera attended a sound poetry performance by Nichol and McCaffery and expressed a desire 'to jam' with them. I was invited along by Nichol and our first, unrehearsed performance drew an enthusiastic response from the audience and ourselves. Over the years we built a repertoire of poetry performance pieces consisting of or blending abstract vocal expression, chant, verbal and nonverbal voice elements, tonality, atonality, rhythmic and/or arrhythmic structures or nonstructures, and movement, all variously scored or improvised as suited our inclination or inspiration. This work found favor—and often disfavor—with literary, musical, and theatre audiences. At its best it is visceral, dynamic, profound, and entertaining. Its flavor and effect cannot be satisfactorily described or transcribed: it is a poetry of the body and the voice that must be heard and seen to be experienced. The tragically early passing of bpNichol in 1988 means that The Four Horsemen are no more, but the three of us who remain are continuing to perform as 'The Horsemen.'

"Music has always been a powerful force in my life, and it is the musicality of language that remains a persistent preoccupation, both in poetry and prose. If I have learned nothing else from writing, it is that (for me) an unwavering fidelity to the musicality of language leads to clarity of thought, precision of diction, and constantly surprising revelations about self and reality. In addition to my verbal compositions for the printed page, my love of music has contributed to my lasting involvement in the creation of sound poetry (or voice poetry, as I prefer to term my works in the genre). My work in this genre has led to collaborations with individuals in a broad range of art forms: improvisational musicians, composers, dancers, mimes, actors, and—of course—other sound poets. Since 1986 I have undertaken increasing collaborations with musicians, both in duet settings and with established combos and in jazz and free improvisational contexts.

"The art of performance is a major part of my literary career. My readings combine all the elements of my literary foci, comprising poems, prose, and sound pieces (exclusively acoustic, as electronic voice composition currently holds no interest for me). I see none of these as ascendant over another and devote equal energy to them all, both in composition and performance. I read in public regularly and widely. Because I am not a traveler by temperament, my expeditions have always been reading expeditions, and I have toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States for solo readings and performances with The Four Horsemen. The more venturesome of such expeditions have been a tour of England and Wales in the spring of 1984, in conjunction with an appearance at the International Sound Poetry Festival in London, performances in Paris and Amsterdam with The Four Horsemen in 1985, in Amsterdam with the Four Horsemen in 1986, and in Tarascon, France, with The Horsemen in 1988 at the AGRIPPA Fifth International Festival of Contemporary Poetry.

"All art has two primary functions: to explore and manifest the unconscious and to entertain. I have always concurred with Isaac Bashevis Singer's contention that 'the artist is an entertainer, in the highest sense of the word.' While entertainment may appear to be at odds with the exploration and manifestation of the unconscious, it is nonetheless my perception that the successful artist achieves this fusion, whatever the medium worked in and whatever the mood or emotion worked with (and, by the way, however much or not the artist may be conscious of doing so). I believe that this element lifts any artist's work beyond the realm of politics, factions, schools, trends, and fashions, because the work will then touch a common human chord that transcends those ephemeral elements, no matter how much the artist may be personally involved in them."