Gucci Bag by Irving Layton

“In The Gucci Bag, Irving Layton, Canada’s most popular poet, proves that at 71, he is still a fighter: outrageous, dynamic, erotic, controversial, and faithful to his vision of the poet as romantic hero.”
– Sharon Singer, Canadian Materials

“Irving Layton takes his place with ease among the best poets writing in English today anywhere.”
– George Woodcock, former editor of Canadian Literature

“When I first clapped my eyes on the poems of Irving Layton…I let out a yell of joy…”
– William Carlos Williams

The craft, the passion, the insight, the genius which marks Layton’s massive achievements as a poet are all revealed in Layton’s The Gucci Bag. The title for this work was inspired by the gift of a Gucci bag that came to symbolize materialism to Layton. He nailed the bag to his outside house wall where “it hangs like a Transylvanian bat/to dismay the vampires of possessiveness.” Layton believes that “the poet’s journey is towards self-definition, (and) Gucci bags are an unnecessary encumbrance.”

Irving Layton is Canada’s greatest poet. The author of 45 books, his works have been translated into 12 languages, including Italian, Spanish, French, Polish, Korean, Greek and Dutch. Major editions of his work have recently been published in Italy and Spain. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature.