Zachariah Wells (born 10 September 1976)https://viaf.org/processed/LAC, 1013A1476 Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2015-05-18. is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

, essayist and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

. Wells was born

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

and was raised in the rural community of

Hazel Grove Hazel Grove is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, close to the Peak District national park. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, the area was kno ...

. He attended high school in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

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 university in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. As an undergraduate, he spent summers working in Iqaluit,

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

as an airline cargo handler. After a brief stint at graduate school in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, he returned to Iqaluit in 2001 and then to the remote settlement of

Resolute Resolute may refer to: Geography * Resolute, Nunavut, Canada, a hamlet * Resolute Bay, Nunavut * Resolute Mountain, Alberta, Canada Military operations * Operation Resolute, the Australian Defence Force contribution to patrolling Australia's Ex ...

, on Cornwallis Island until 2003, eventually relocating to Halifax with his wife, Rachel Lebowitz. Wells has contributed to periodicals including ''

Books in Canada ''Books in Canada'' was a monthly magazine that reviewed Canadian literature, published in print form between 1971 and 2008. In its heyday it was the most influential literary magazine in Canada. Foundation One of the co-founders of ''Books in Ca ...

'', '' Quill & Quire'' and ''Maisonneuve''. His first

chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

, ''Fool's Errand'', was published in 2004 as well as his full-length collection of

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

poems, ''Unsettled.'' In 2006 Wells became the Reviews Editor for ''

Canadian Notes & Queries ''Canadian Notes & Queries'' is a literary magazine published in Canada on a triannual basis. History and profile The magazine was first published in 1968 by William Morley as a four-page supplement to the ''Abacus'', the newsletter of the Antiqua ...

''. In 2007 he published ''Sealift'', a CD recording of 24 poems from ''Unsettled''; "Achromatope," a letterpress broadside; and ''After the Blizzard'', a limited edition chapbook. In the spring of 2008, ''Jailbreaks,'' his anthology of Canadian sonnets, was published. ''Anything But Hank!,'' the children's book he co-wrote with Lebowitz, with illustrations by Eric Orchard, was published in the fall. In 2009, Wells published ''Track & Trace'', his second trade collection of poems, with illustrations by renowned graphic artist

Seth Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. A ...

. ''Track & Trace'' was shortlisted for the 2010 Atlantic Poetry Prize. In 2010, he published ''The Essential Kenneth Leslie,'' the first collection of Leslie's poems to be published since 1972.

Bibliography

* ''Fool's Errand'' (chapbook), Charlottetown: Saturday Morning Chapbooks, 2004 * ''Unsettled'' (trade paperback), Toronto: Insomiac Press, 2004 * ''Ludicrous Parole'' (chapbook), Montreal: Mercutio Press, 2005 * ''Huginn & Muninn'' (lithographed broadside, in collaboration with Margaret Flood), Halifax: privately printed, 2005. * ''Sealift'' (audio CD), Vancouver: Avatar Records, 2007. * ''Achromatope'' (letterpress broadside), Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2007. * ''After the Blizzard'' (chapbook), Peterborough: Littlefishcart Press, 2008. * ''Jailbreaks: 99 Canadian Sonnets'' (anthology, as editor) Emeryville: Biblioasis, 2008. * ''Anything But Hank!'' (children's book, co-written with Rachel Lebowitz, illustrated by Eric Orchard) Emeryville: Biblioasis, 2008. * ''Track & Trace'' (trade paperback), Emeryville: Biblioasis, 2009. * ''The Essential Kenneth Leslie'' (as editor) Erin: The Porcupine's Quill, 2010.

References

External links

Insomniac PressMercutio PressZachariah Wells' website''Canadian Notes & Queries''
* (2004 to present) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Zachariah 1976 births Living people 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Writers from Charlottetown Chapbook writers 20th-century Canadian male writers