Roy Fisher was one of those rare individuals who combined a distinctive academic career with a major contribution to modern British poetry. He was also a formidable jazz pianist. When he came to the University of Hull as an external examiner, the ritual examiners’ dinner wound up at the Haworth Arms. Encouraged by Hull’s boisterous Americanists (of which I was one), Roy, with his versatile pianism, soon won over an initially sceptical house band who conveyed their respect by dubbing him “the Prof”.
