Zachariah Wells

"A poet of direct speech and muscular lexicon."--Quill & Quire Nimbly slipping between personae, masks, and moods, the prosody-driven poems of Sum weigh the volatility and mutability of the self against the forces of habit, instinct, and urge. With homages to Hopkins, Graves, Wislawa Szymborska, Paul Muldoon, and more, and in allusion-dappled, playfully sprung stanzas, this third book from poet and critic Zachariah Wells both wears its influences openly and spins a sound texture all its own, in a collection far greater than its parts. Zachariah Wells is the author of two collections of poetry and a book of criticism (Career Limiting Moves, 2014).

By turns celebratory and sceptical, Career Limiting Moves is a selection of essays and reviews drawn from a decade of immersion in Canadian poetry. Inhabiting a milieu in which unfriendly remarks are typically spoken sotto voce?if at all? Wells has consistently said what he thinks aloud. The pieces in this collection comprise revisionist assessments of some big names in Canadian Poetry (Margaret Atwood, Lorna Crozier, Don McKay and Patrick Lane, among others); satirical ripostes parrying others' critical views (Andre Alexis, Erin Moure, Jan Zwicky); substantial appraisals of underrated or near-forgotten poets (Charles Bruce, Kenneth Leslie, Peter Sanger, John Smith, Peter Trower, Peter Van Toorn); assessments of promising debuts (Suzanne Buffam, Pino Coluccio, Thomas Heise, Peter Norman) and much else besides?including a few surprises for anyone who thinks they have Wells's taste figured out. Zachariah Wells is the editor of Jailbreaks: 99 Canadian Sonnets and the author of two collections of poetry.

The poems in Zachariah Wells' second collection range from childhood to dimly foreseen events in the future; they idle on all three of Canada's coasts, travel the open road, take walks in the city and pause on the banks of country streams and ponds. Using an eclectic array of techniques and forms, from haiku to a crown of sonnets, in a voice that is personal but never private, Wells sketches a fragmentary biography of a life in progress, a study of post-industrial nomadic restlessness in a rootless age. Both elegiac and celebratory, "Track & Trace" considers how we live, how we shape our lives, and how we are eroded and drifted by time and circumstance.

In Anything But Hank! Rachel Lebowitz and Zachariah Wells combine the whimsical humour of Lewis Carroll with the adventure-narrative balladeering of Robert Service to spin an unforgettable tale of a baby -- and a pig! -- in search of a name. Their quest takes them from the city to the mountains, as they seek an audience with the Wizard and his baby-naming Mexican beaded lizard. The story, accompanied by the gorgeously lush paintings of Eric Orchard, is a delight for readers of all ages.