Books interview: Douglas Dunn on The Noise of a Fly, his first new poetry collection in 17 years

Douglas Dunn downs a double espresso in one long gulp, but declines a refill: “That’s my fourth coffee today. Any more and you’ll be scraping me off the ceiling.” Straight away, he has done a thing poets do: he has created an image in the mind’s eye. For a moment, I find myself considering what this dapper 75-year-old with his walking stick might look like airborne. We’re in Luvians in St Andrews, an old-school cafe selling ice cream and chocolate where no one uses the word “artisan” – as good a place as any to discuss poetry. And in the last 25 years, St Andrews has become synonymous with poetry: for having eminent poets on the university teaching staff; for having a building (part of the School of English) renamed Poetry House; for being home to Scotland’s poetry festival, StAnza, which will play host to some 90 poets from all over the world from 7-11 March this year.