Denis Doyle was born in Exmouth, Devon, in 1938, four years after his parents had moved to England from Ireland. He studied English Literature at Exeter and Cambridge Universities and then in the 1960s lived in Cornwall and also taught English for two years in Oviedo, Spain, where he started to translate the poems of Machado and Lorca; his translation of Machado’s The Legend of Alvargonzalez was published in England by North Light Press in 1982. He moved to Japan in 1987, quickly becoming an active figure in the circle of poets associated with the Tokyo magazine, Printed Matter; the first edition of The Rhododendron Forest was published in Tokyo by Printed Matter Press in 1991. He lived in Saitama until his retirement from Shukutoku University in 2011. He then lived in Wales until he unfortunately passed away as a result of a traffic accident in July 2020. Denis was a much-loved and well-respected figure on the Tokyo poetry scene – always willing to offer selfless and helpful commentary on other people’s poems, and a wonderful poet even if his oeuvre was – regrettably – a slim one.
