Zachariah Wells

Zachariah Wells reads from his first book of poems, Unsettled

Published by: Insomniac Press

Time of Reading: 7:06

Zachariah Wells grew up on Prince Edward Island. His critically acclaimed first book of poems, Unsettled, is distilled from seven years of itinerant labour as an airline cargo hand in the territory of Nunavut. A prolific reviewer and essayist, he is also Reviews Editor for Canadian Notes & Queries. A restless traveller (he often works aboard trains for Via Rail) and an exponent of the troubadour ethic in poetry, he has toured the country reading poems to live audiences.

"Wells appears to be a poet with good sense, one with the intelligence to make use of unusual material (arctic airstrip, 'colourful' co-workers) but not to expect too much of that material on its own, to respect not only his material but also his readers by applying actual poetic skill, wordcraft, employing his vocabulary, his command of the language, his awareness of imagery, his eye and his ear to make something more of the material. Why is this so rare?"
—Sharon McCartney, The Fiddlehead

Listen to the reading:

Listen to the Insight:

Visit the author's website