Canadian poet David Zieroth’s creative journey, still unfolding after more than fifty years, comes into brilliant focus in this revelatory retrospective.

Gathered with meticulous care and arranged chronologically, this vital collection reflects the unique voice and ever-evolving style of BC poet David Zieroth over more than half a century of acclaimed work. From early meditations on his rural Prairie childhood to the moving consideration of family and history in the previously unpublished poem at the book’s end, Zieroth allows imagery rooted in daily life to guide him in unexpected directions, revealing moments that illuminate the otherwise hidden confluence of mind and world.

As first here and then far shows, Zieroth’s curiosity-charged poems have always possessed a translucent directness. Motion and stillness meet, whether the view is from one of his many international voyages or simply from his North Vancouver balcony, as in the evocatively titled recent book watching for life. And his language has gathered momentum over the years, becoming more streamlined as it sheds convention and takes on a new lyricism.

An essential document of a long and endlessly inventive life in words, first here and then far is a worthy testament to the energy and subtle insight of a poet who remains at the height of his powers.

David Zieroth’s The Fly in Autumn (Harbour, 2009) won the Governor General’s Literary Award and was nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the Acorn-Plantos Award for People’s Poetry in 2010. Zieroth also won The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Award for How I Joined Humanity at Last (Harbour, 1998). Other publications include the trick of staying and leaving (Harbour, 2023), watching for life (McGill-Queen’s, 2022), the bridge from day to night (Harbour, 2018), Zoo and Crowbar (Guernica Editions, 2015), Albrecht Dürer and me (Harbour, 2014), The November Optimist (Gaspereau, 2013), The Village of Sliding Time (Harbour, 2006), The Education of Mr. Whippoorwill: A Country Boyhood (Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 2002) and Crows Do Not Have Retirement (Harbour, 2001). His poems have been included in the Best Canadian Poetry series, shortlisted for National Magazine and Relit Awards and featured on Vancouver buses three times as part of Poetry in Transit. He watches urban life from his third-floor balcony in North Vancouver, BC, where he runs The Alfred Gustav Press and produces handmade poetry chapbooks twice per year.

David Zieroth's profile page