Don Coles was born on April 27, 1927 and he attended U of T as well as Cambridge University where he received a B.A in modern history and a M.A in English literature as well as Canadian Literature.  Coles spent 12 years traveling through Europe where he struggled to write it was only when he returned home that he was able to become a accomplished writer. He taught at York University from 1965 to 1995 which is when his poetry career began to take off and he started writing poetry in 1966. From 1966 till 2000 Don Coles has had many different works published and was a successful teacher as well as poet and he is now retired and resides in Toronto.