The trials of Ezra Pound

the long version

The Trials of Ezra Pound is a stark portrayal of Ezra Pound at the end of his public life. Based upon the preliminary hearings of the trials held in Washington, D.C. in late 1945 and early 1946, Timothy Findley reveals what the original transcripts do not - Pound's emotionally charged interpretation of the events and his self-destruction. By letting Pound pace impatiently between time and place, Findley conducts a rare dramatic dance in The Trials of Ezra Pound - he takes the trial beyond one courtroom and into the realm of all humanity and it is here, in the light of Ezra Pound's harsh contradictions, that Findley asks the reader not to judge, but how to judge.