Lost and Found Poet #11: Kenneth Leslie

h3. Kenneth Leslie: GG Winner, East Coaster and Extraordinary Sonneteer
p. *Rediscovered by Zachariah Wells, poet, critic and editor of the upcoming anthology [_Jailbreaks: 99 Canadian Sonnets_]*
!((>https://arcpoetry.ca/images/fn_poets/kenneth_leslie.gif 160w 215h (Kenneth Leslie 1892-1974, a rediscovered Canadian poet)!
He was a farmer, a teacher, a preacher, a political activist, a journalist, a broadcaster, a composer, a restaurateur and a cab-driver. He was blacklisted by _Life_ magazine as one of fifty prominent “dupes and fellow travelers” of communism during the McCarthy era. On top of all this, Kenneth Leslie was one of the most gifted poets of his day, and won the Governor General’s Award in 1938 for his collection, [_By Stubborn Stars_]. Although he travelled widely and lived in New York, Boston and Paris, Leslie’s poetry was stubbornly rooted in the culture and landscape of Nova Scotia’s north shore.


h4. About Essayist Zachariah Wells
p. Zachariah Wells is the reviews editor for _Canadian Notes & Queries_ and the author of Unsettled, a collection of poems set in Canada’s eastern Arctic. His poems, reviews, and essays have been published widely in magazines and anthologies. He is the winner of the Avie Bennett Prize and Wynne Francis Prize for essays on Canadian literature, and a two-time winner of [_Arc Poetry Magazine_]’s Critic’s Desk Award. Born and raised on Prince Edward Island, Wells has since lived in Ottawa, Halifax, Iqaluit, Montreal, Resolute Bay and Vancouver, and has toured extensively, giving public readings and talks from coast to coast. He has worked as an ice-cream server, airline cargo hand, bartender, security guard, and passenger train attendant. Forthcoming works include, as editor, a landmark anthology of Canadian sonnets; a children’s book co-written with Rachel Lebowitz and illustrated by Eric Orchard; a collection of critical essays; translations of Québecois poet Émile Nelligan; and a second trade collection of his own poetry. He has also recently started the poetry audio press, Avatar Records. “www.zachariahwells.com”:http://www.zachariahwells.com.

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