Zachary Michael Jack read at Prairie Lights in March and was interviewed on his process, his goals, and the spiritual practice of writing, for Writers on the Fly.
He has authored or edited nearly 20 award-winning books in a variety of genres, including fiction, poetry, literary journalism, creative nonfiction, and personal essay.
Zachary’s fiction has earned national runner-up honors in the Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Award; his poetry has been awarded the Prentice Hall Prize, and his nonfiction has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize (Best of the Small Presses), the Theodore Saloutos Award, and the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. The author and his work have been featured in The New York Review of Books, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune, among others. In sum Zachary’s work has earned him listing in Who’s Who in America.
An associate professor of English, Zachary teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in writing, rural and urban studies, and sports and leadership studies at North Central College. He is the great-grandson of pioneering conservation writer Walter Thomas Jack and a seventh generation resident of Iowa, where he continues to steward a family farm and to volunteer his time speaking in schools and communities about the transformative power of place and the preservation of local cultures.
