Zigzags, a collection of Nash's latest poetry, explores how virtually none of our thoughts, actions or feelings go very far without becoming paradoxes and contradictions. Some paradoxes are humourous, but some are deadly. The poems debunk an intellectualism that pretends we can strategize straight lines of progress to our goals. Rather, "Life's walking a straight zigzag, while standing upright in a somersault" (Irish saying). Zigzags replaces this intellectualism with a vision of life and ourselves expressed in the harmonizing metaphors of poetry.
Roger Nash is a past—President of the League of Canadian Poets, and inaugural Poet Laureate of Sudbury. As President of the League, he worked with Senator Grafstein to create the Parliamentary Canadian Poet Laureate position in Ottawa. He's published seventeen books of poetry, short fiction and philosophy.
Literary awards include: the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Poetry, the PEN/O.Henry Prize Story Award, the Confederation Poets Award (twice), and first prizes in poetry contests with Prism international and The Fiddlehead.
Roger was born in the blitz in England, and grew up in Egypt, Singapore and China. He came to Canada in 1965, living mainly in Sudbury, but also in Guelph and Athabasca. He's Professor Emeritus in Philosophy (environmental ethics) at Laurentian University, and a synagogue cantor.
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