Alex Gildzen Mail Art collection

Born April 25, 1943 in Monterey, California, Alex Gildzen grew up in Elyria, Ohio, graduating from Elyria High School in 1961. He enrolled at Kent State University, earning a BA in journalism and an MA in English in 1966. Gildzen was later hired to assist in the Kent State library’s Special Collections Department in 1971. During his tenure in Special Collections, Gildzen acquired the archives of the Open Theater, playwrites, film historians, and screen stars. As a poet and artist, Gildzen was known for depositing his art and poems in strange places, appearing in both widely circulatd magazines and publications like 'Rolling Stone' and 'After Dark' and less circulated titles like 'Marrahwannah Quarterly' and 'Stuffed Crocodile.' His first chapbook 'Into the Sea' was publishd by Abraxas Press in 1969 and his selectd poems, 'The Avalanche of Time,' by North Atlantic Books in 1986. He became involved in mail art in the 1970s and produced a number of works, notably Postcard Memoirs. During the 1990s, Gildzen produced a pop music concert and AIDS benefit and had two of his plays produced. Since his retirement from Kent State library, he continued a robust career as a poet and mail artist, particularly utilizing the Internet as a medium including his blog, “Arroyo Chamisa.”