Syd Zolf (born December 14, 1968), formerly known as Rachel Zolf, is a Canadian-American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and theorist. They are the author of five poetry collections: ''Janey's Arcadia''(2014), which was nominated for a

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

, a Raymond Souster Memorial Award, and a Vine Award; ''Neighbour Procedure''(2010); ''Human Resources''(2007), which won the 2008

Trillium Book Award The Trillium Book Award (french: Prix littéraire Trillium or ''Prix Trillium'') is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which is ov ...

for Poetry and was a finalist for the

; ''Masque'' (2004), which was shortlisted for the 2005

for Poetry; and ''Her absence, this wanderer'' (1999), the title poem of which was a finalist in the CBC Literary Competition. A selected poetry, ''Social Poesis: The Poetry of Rachel Zolf'', was published in 2019. A work of poetics/theory, ''No One's Witness: A Monstrous Poetics'', in 2021 and was a finalist for the 2022 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism from the Poetry Foundation. They received a Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 2018. Zolf's art video translation of three poems from ''Janey’s Arcadia'' has shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Dunlop Art Gallery and other venues. Among their many collaborations, Zolf wrote the film ''The Light Club of Vizcaya: A Women’s Picture'', directed by New York artist

Josiah McElheny Josiah McElheny (1966, Boston) is an artist and sculptor, primarily known for his work with glass blowing and assemblages of glass and mirrored glassed objects (see Glass art). He is a 2006 recipient of the MacArthur Fellows Program. He liv ...

, which premiered at Art Basel Miami and showed at the Wexner Center for the Arts, White Cube Bermondsey, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, and elsewhere. They also conducted the first collaborative MFA in Creative Writing ever, ''The Tolerance Project''. Zolf teaches at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. They were the founding poetry editor for ''

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, non-profit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an 8-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a national s ...

'' magazine and have edited several books of poetry. Their archives are held at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

's Special Collections in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. They are the child of author and broadcaster

Larry Zolf Larry Zolf (July 19, 1934 – March 14, 2011)

and Patricia Zolf.