The wit, playfulness and crackle that informs Michael Harris's acclaimed poetry surfaces in this eclectic range of essays, articles, fiction, travel pieces, and criticism. Included in Field Notes are appeciations of Irving Layton, Stephen Leacock, Jorge Luis Borges, Ted Hughes and artist Marion Wagschal. The book also contains a provocative assessment of the rare book trade, as well as a fascinating reflection on Harris's two decades editing Vehicule Press's Signal Editions, the poetry imprint he founded in 1980. Capping the selection is a rarely seen, youthful interview with the then-young Leonard Cohen. Field Notes provides an illuminating glimpse into the workshop and creative process of a distiniguhed Canadian poet.

Michael Harris' most recent book of poems, Circus (2010) was nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry. He is a two-time winner of the CBC Literary Competition, and has translated the complete poetry of Marie-Claire Blais (Veiled Countries\ Lives). He lives in Montreal, Quebec, where runs Montreal Books, a rare and used Internet bookshop. During his tenure as editor of Signal Editions, Michael Harris saw through to publication some 60 titles. The present volume is Signal's 100th book.

Michael Harris' profile page