alt=Syd Zolf (left) and Julia Bloch at Kelly Writers House. Photo by Mehrin Masud-Elias|thumb|Syd Zolf (left) and Julia Bloch at Kelly Writers House. Photo by Mehrin Masud-Elias '''Syd Zolf''' (born December 14, 1968), formerly known as Rachel Zolf,<!-- We have to acknowledge their former name as they were well-known by it before changing it --> is a Canadian-American poet and theorist. They are the author of five poetry collections: ''Janey's Arcadia''<ref>[https://chbooks.com/Books/J/Janey-s-Arcadia Publisher's page for book ''Janey's Arcadia'']</ref>(2014), which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, a Raymond Souster Memorial Award,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lpg.ca/shortlists-2015-league-canadian-poets-awards-revealed |title=Announcement of Zolf's shortlisting for the Raymond Souster Memorial Award |access-date=2016-02-28 |archive-date=2022-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130124807/http://www.lpg.ca/shortlists-2015-league-canadian-poets-awards-revealed |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a Vine Award;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature Shortlist Announced!|url=http://open-book.ca/News/Vine-Awards-for-Canadian-Jewish-Literature-Shortlist-Announced|access-date=2021-04-01|website=open-book.ca|language=en}}</ref> ''Neighbour Procedure''<ref>[https://chbooks.com/Books/N/Neighbour-Procedure Publisher's page for ''Neighbour Procedure'']</ref>(2010); ''Human Resources''<ref>[https://chbooks.com/Books/H/Human-Resources Publisher's page for book ''Human Resources''] {{ISBN|1-55245-182-8}}</ref>(2007), which won the 2008 Trillium Book Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award; ''Masque''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Masque |url=https://bookhugpress.ca/shop/author/syd-zolf/masque-by-syd-zolf/ |access-date=2023-08-14 |website=SYD ZOLF |date=14 August 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>(2004), which was shortlisted for the 2005 Trillium Book Award for Poetry; and ''Her absence, this wanderer''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Her Absence, This Wanderer |url=https://bookhugpress.ca/shop/author/syd-zolf/her-absence-this-wanderer-by-syd-zolf/ |access-date=2023-08-14 |website=SYD ZOLF |date=14 August 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>(1999), the title poem of which was a finalist in the CBC Literary Competition. A selected poetry, ''Social Poesis: The Poetry of Rachel Zolf'',<ref>{{Cite book|title=Publisher's page for ''Social Poesis''.|url=https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/S/Social-Poesis}}</ref> was published in 2019. A work of poetics/theory, ''No One's Witness: A Monstrous Poetics'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Publisher's page for ''No One's Witness''.|url=https://www.dukeupress.edu/no-ones-witness|access-date=2021-04-01|archive-date=2020-09-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925214923/https://www.dukeupress.edu/no-ones-witness|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2018-06-18|title=Rachel Zolf|url=https://www.pewcenterarts.org/people/rachel-zolf|access-date=2021-04-01|website=The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage|language=en}}</ref> in 2018.
Zolf's art video translation of three poems from ''Janey’s Arcadia''<ref>[http://www.vtape.org/video?vi=8292 Link to video translations at V tape, the Canadian distributor of video art ]</ref> 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<ref>http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/josiah-mcelheny/ Link to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens listing for ''The Light Club of Vizcaya''</ref> 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''.<ref>http://thetoleranceproject.blogspot.com/ Link to ''The Tolerance Project''</ref>
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,<ref>[http://archivesfa.library.yorku.ca/fonds/ON00370-f0000538.htm Inventory of the Rachel Zolf fonds at York University]</ref> and at Simon Fraser University's Special Collections in Burnaby, British Columbia.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Special Collections and Rare Books: Manuscript collections {{!}} SFU Library|url=https://www.lib.sfu.ca/about/branches-depts/special-collections/manuscripts|access-date=2021-04-01|website=www.lib.sfu.ca}}</ref>
They are the child of author and broadcaster Larry Zolf and Patricia Zolf.
==Works== *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 ==
* Pew Fellowship in the Arts, 2018
=== ''No One's Witness'' ===
* ''Finalist'', 2022 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism, presented by the Poetry Foundation
=== ''Janey's Arcadia'' ===
* ''Finalist'', Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry * ''Finalist'', Raymond Souster Memorial Award * ''Finalist'', Vine Awards (Poetry)
=== ''Human Resources'' ===
* Trillium Book Award for Poetry * ''Finalist'', Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry
=== ''Masque'' ===
* ''Finalist'', Trillium Book Award for Poetry
=== ''Her Absence, This Wanderer'' ===
* ''Finalist'', CBC Literary Competition
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|https://rachelzolf.com/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zolf, Syd}} Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Canadian poets Category:21st-century Canadian poets Category:Jewish Canadian poets Category:American literary editors Category:Non-binary Jews Category:Canadian LGBTQ poets Category:Canadian non-binary writers Category:Canadian non-binary artists Category:21st-century American poets Category:21st-century American writers Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people Category:Canadian transgender writers Category:American transgender writers Category:American LGBTQ poets