Syd Zolf
![Syd Zolf (left) and Julia Bloch at Kelly Writers House. Photo by Mehrin Masud-Elias](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Syd_Zolf_%28left%29_and_Julia_Bloch_at_Kelly_Writers_House.jpg/220px-Syd_Zolf_%28left%29_and_Julia_Bloch_at_Kelly_Writers_House.jpg)
Syd Zolf (born December 14, 1968), formerly known as Rachel Zolf, is a Canadian-American poet and theorist. They are the author of five poetry collections: Janey's Arcadia[1](2014), which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, a Raymond Souster Memorial Award,[2] and a Vine Award;[3] Neighbour Procedure[4](2010); Human Resources[5](2007), which won the 2008 Trillium Book Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award; Masque [6](2004), which was shortlisted for the 2005 Trillium Book Award for Poetry; and Her absence, this wanderer [7](1999), the title poem of which was a finalist in the CBC Literary Competition. A selected poetry, Social Poesis: The Poetry of Rachel Zolf,[8] was published in 2019. A work of poetics/theory, No One's Witness: A Monstrous Poetics,[9] 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[10] in 2018.
Zolf's art video translation of three poems from Janey’s Arcadia [11] 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, which premiered at Art Basel Miami [12] 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.[13]
Zolf teaches at the University of Pennsylvania. They were the founding poetry editor for The Walrus magazine and have edited several books of poetry. Their archives are held at York University in Toronto, Ontario,[14] and at Simon Fraser University's Special Collections in Burnaby, British Columbia.[15]
They are the child of author and broadcaster Larry Zolf and Patricia Zolf.
Works
[edit]- 1999: Her Absence, this Wanderer. Ottawa: BuschekBooks.
- 2004: Masque. Toronto: The Mercury Press.
- 2007: Human Resources. Toronto: Coach House Books.
- 2008: Shoot & Weep. Vancouver: Nomados.
- 2010: Neighbour Procedure. Toronto: Coach House Books.
- 2014: Janey's Arcadia. Toronto: Coach House Books.
- 2019: Social Poesis: The Poetry of Rachel Zolf: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
- 2021: No One's Witness: A Monstrous Poetics: Duke University Press.
Awards
[edit]- Pew Fellowship in the Arts, 2018
No One's Witness
[edit]- Finalist, 2022 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism, presented by the Poetry Foundation
Janey's Arcadia
[edit]- Finalist, Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry
- Finalist, Raymond Souster Memorial Award
- Finalist, Vine Awards (Poetry)
Human Resources
[edit]- Trillium Book Award for Poetry
- Finalist, Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry
Masque
[edit]- Finalist, Trillium Book Award for Poetry
Her Absence, This Wanderer
[edit]- Finalist, CBC Literary Competition
References
[edit]- ^ Publisher's page for book Janey's Arcadia
- ^ Announcement of Zolf's shortlisting for the Raymond Souster Memorial Award
- ^ "Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature Shortlist Announced!". open-book.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
- ^ Publisher's page for Neighbour Procedure
- ^ Publisher's page for book Human Resources ISBN 1-55245-182-8
- ^ "Masque". SYD ZOLF. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
- ^ "Her Absence, This Wanderer". SYD ZOLF. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
- ^ Publisher's page for Social Poesis.
- ^ "Publisher's page for No One's Witness".
- ^ "Rachel Zolf". The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. 2018-06-18. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
- ^ Link to video translations at V tape, the Canadian distributor of video art
- ^ http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/josiah-mcelheny/ Link to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens listing for The Light Club of Vizcaya
- ^ http://thetoleranceproject.blogspot.com/ Link to The Tolerance Project
- ^ Inventory of the Rachel Zolf fonds at York University
- ^ "Special Collections and Rare Books: Manuscript collections | SFU Library". www.lib.sfu.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
External links
[edit]- 1968 births
- Living people
- 20th-century Canadian poets
- 21st-century Canadian poets
- Jewish Canadian writers
- Literary editors
- Non-binary Jews
- Canadian LGBT poets
- Canadian non-binary writers
- Canadian non-binary artists
- 21st-century American poets
- 21st-century American writers
- 21st-century Canadian LGBT people
- 20th-century Canadian LGBT people
- Canadian transgender writers
- American transgender writers
- American LGBT poets