Paul Dutton

Paul Dutton was a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist and oral sound artist who was internationally renowned for his literary and musical performances. Unexpectedly, Paul did not choose to write his own obituary. Paul will be deeply missed by his many friends, colleagues and collaborators and, of course, his extensive extended family including his last remaining sister Fran Colvin and his remaining in-laws Wilbert Colvin and Sue Dutton. He will be greatly missed by his devoted niece Mary Clare Rutledge, her son Kaj Hendricks Breuker (Chi Phan), and his many nieces and nephews. Paul was predeceased by his parents, Eileen Annie Dutton (Danaher) and Cuthbert Joseph Dutton and his siblings Mary Byrnes (Frank), Gerry Dutton, Audry Dutton, Joan Rutledge (Bill), Bernie Burns (Gerry), Jim Dutton (Sue), Cathy Grace and Clare Calnan (John) Paul was born the ninth child of ten in his lifelong home of Toronto. Paul attended St Michael’s Choir School and the University of Western Ontario. He had many jobs in publishing as a copywriter/editor, including working for Prentice-Hall of Canada; McClelland & Stewart Ltd Toronto; Holt, Rinehart & Winston of Canada; John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd.; Musicworks Magazine among others. Paul had a reputation for being exacting about word choices. In supporting other authors, he was generous with his time and his pears. Paul was also a longtime member of Meet the Presses, a volunteer collective devoted to promoting micro, small and independent literary presses within the GTA. Paul’s poetry, literary and music legacy includes solo and collaborated works. Aside from his published anthologies, books and music and oral recordings, Paul was a member of The Four Horsemen poetry performance quartet alongside Steve McCaffery, Rafael Barreto-Rivera and bpNichol. He was a member of the free-improvisational band CCMC along with the most recent members John Kamevaar, John Oswald, Michael Snow and many other past members and special guests. Paul performed as a poet or a sound singer in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Argentina and Venezuela as well as many parts of the United States and Canada. Aside from his published books, Paul wrote dozens of published essays on music and writing. Paul was an active member of the League of Canadian Poets. Aside from all of these accomplishments, Paul was a tireless fighter for the oppressed and for social justice causes, a good friend to those close enough to merit it, and a caring and supportive uncle to those who sought him out. He inherited a great sense of humour. His presence within all of these areas that he was active in will be greatly missed. As per Paul’s wishes, his remains were cremated. All are welcome to join a gathering to celebrate Paul's life and a retrospective of his career, his works and life legacy on April 9th 2026 at The Supermarket, 268 Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market. Starting at 6 pm, we will gather to celebrate Paul's life and at 7:30 pm tribute performances will begin. Please feel free to join the celebration at a time that best suits you. In lieu of flowers, it's requested that you may choose to donate to one of the many organizations that he advocated for over the years. As an alternative, please support the Princess Margaret Hospital or UHN’s Toronto General or Toronto Western Hospitals as a means of gratitude for the excellent care he received from these exemplary medical care facilities over the last few decades.

Paul Dutton

May 27, 2025