Zonailo, Carolyn

Carolyn Zonailo was born January 21, 1947, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Zonailos paternal great-grandparents were among the 7,500 Doukhobors who came to Canada from Georgia, Russia, in 1899. She is the daughter of Matt Zonailo, a builder and electrician from Castlegar, British Columbia, and Anne Gibb, who immigrated to Canada from Scotland as a young child. Zonailo attended primary and secondary school in Vancouver, B.C. She attended Scripps College in Claremont, California, as well as the University of Rochester in New York. In 1971, Zonailo received a Bachelor of Arts in literature from the University of British Columbia. From the mid 1970s, Zonailo published her poetry in literary magazines, periodicals and anthologies. In 1975, she began studies at Simon Fraser University at Burnaby, British Columbia, and completed a Master of Arts degree in 1980. Zonailo founded Caitlin Press in 1977 and published books of poetry and fiction until 1990. During this period, Caitlin Press published several other west coast poets including Elizabeth Gourlay, David West, Cathy Ford, Beth Jankola, Carole Itter, Norm Sibum, David Conn, Ajmer Rode, and Mona Fertig. In April, 1991, Caitlin Press was sold to Cynthia Wilson and Ken Carling, who relocated the press to Prince George, British Columbia, and changed its scope to fiction, non-fiction, and poetry primarily related to the interior region of British Columbia. In 1991, Zonailo began collaborating with graphic artist and poet Ed Varney to publish poetry broadsides, pamphlets, chapbooks and two anthologies under the imprint the Poem Factory/Usine de Poeme. Their collaboration continued through 1999. Zonailo has served on the board of several writers organizations including the Federation of British Columbia Writers, the League of Canadian Poets, and the Writers Union of Canada. In 1995, Zonailo married poet and teacher Stephen Morrissey and in 2000, they founded Coracle Press. Zonailos interest in mythology, archetypal studies, and Jungian psychology has been incorporated into her writing. Zonailo also writes and lectures in mythology and astrology under the name Carolyn Joyce. Carolyn Zonailo lives in Montreal, Quebec, with her husband, Stephen Morrissey.