Scope and Contents Internet: Robert Zend (1929-1985) was a Poet, Philosopher, Multi-media artist. A published author in his homeland of Hungary by 1956, he fled to North America during the communist takeover. He used to say that his first five years living in Toronto were 'wretched', but that the next twenty he 'felt like a man without a home'. He had no immediate audience for his Hungarian books and he could not yet write fluently in English. He once wrote, "Budapest is my homeland, Toronto is my home. In Toronto I am nostalgic for Budapest. In Budapest I am nostalgic for Toronto. Everywhere else I am nostalgic for my nostalgia." Evenutally Zend did find his place in Toronto, publishing several books of poetry and humor, including From Zero to One (1973), Beyond Labels (1983) and Oab (published posthumously, 1986). He was often linked with Canada's literary elite, having friendships with and the admiration of the likes of Margaret Atwood and Northrop Frye. Glenn Gould called him "Canada's most...

Scope and Contents

This book is an anthology of Zend's poetry and perhaps an autobiographical introduction to his political philosophy at the book's beginning. The first concrete poems are dated 1968. Some of the conventional poems are composed with amusing wordplay. There is a section of the book that prints "ditto poems," a term coined by Zend in 1970. This type of poetry first published by Emmett Williams in "Sweethearts" features new words made by dropping letters from the title as seen on the following example below (printed as letters line by line under the title.SAINT? - I - Aint - A - Saint, - I - Sit - in - Sin. In 1982, Zend originated "drop poems." Here the letters of the poem drop from the title and the poet can only use each letter of the title once and only in the original order. The reader, on the other hand, has to read each poem twice: first the title (in two lines), then the poem (second line only). -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Scope and Contents

In Volume 1, an inventive book of visual poetry, Zend has created an imaginary character, Oab who plays word games dealing with a multitude of topics with his own creation, Irdu. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Scope and Contents

In Volume 2 of this bookwork, Zend continues the history of his imaginary character, Oab who plays word games with his own creation, Irdu. The character Ardo, who is a mystic dealing with the fourth dimension, is introduced. Some of the mathematical content in the beginning of this volume is reminiscent of Abbott's "Flatland." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Scope and Contents

This book is an anthology of poems by Zend. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.