Gabriel Zaid is a Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 writer, poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 and intellectual.

He was born in the city of Monterrey

Monterrey

Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...

, Nuevo León

Nuevo León

Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...

, in 1934. He studied Engineering at the Tecnológico de Monterrey.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Vuelta

Vuelta (magazine)

Vuelta was a Mexican literary magazine, founded by poet Octavio Paz in 1976 following the controversial dismantling of the workers' cooperative that ran the daily newspaper Excélsior. It ceased publication following Paz's death in 1998....

  magazine from 1976 to 1992. He has been a member of El Colegio Nacional since September 26, 1984. He has been a member of the Mexican Academy of Language since 1986. He has distinguished himself for never appearing in public—not even his picture has been taken. This springs from a strongly held opinion that a writer should be known by his work, not his real life personality. His essays have been very influential on a vast array of topics, most significantly poetry, economics, and criticism of the literary establishment.

• Fábula de Narciso y Ariadna (Fable of Narciso and Ariadna) (1958);
• Seguimiento (Following) (1964);
• Campo nudista (Nudist Camp) (1969);
• Lina (1972);
• Práctica mortal (Deadly Practice) (1973);
• Cuestionario (Questionnaire) (1976);
• Canciones de Vidyapati (Songs of Vidyapati
  Vidyapati
  Vidyapati Thakur , also known by the sobriquet Maithil Kavi Kokil was a Maithili poet and a Sanskrit writer. He was born in the village of Bishphi in Madhubani district of Bihar state, India. He was son of Ganapati...
  
  ) (1978);
• Sonetos y canciones (Sonnets and Songs) (1992);
• Reloj de sol (Sun Clock) (1995).

Essays on poetry

• La poesía, fundamento de la ciudad (Poetry, Foundation of the City) (1963);
• La máquina de cantar (The Singing Machine) (1967);
• Leer poesía (Reading Poetry) (1972 Xavier Villarrutia Award);
• La poesía en la práctica (Poetry in Practice) (1985 Magda Donato Award);
• Un amor imposible de López Velarde (An Impossible Love of López Velarde) (1986);
• Muerte y resurrección de la cultura católica (Death and Resurrection of Catholic Culture) (1992);
• Ensayos sobre poesía (Essays on Poetry) (1993);
• Tres poetas católicos (Three Catholic Poets) (1997).

Poetry Anthologies

• Ómnibus de poesía mexicana (Omnibus of Mexican Poems) (1971);
• Asamblea de poetas jóvenes de México (Assembly of Young Mexican Poets) (1980);
• Antología poética de Manuel M. Ponce (Poem Anthology of Manuel M. Ponce) (1980).

Criticism about the Cultural World

• Cómo leer en bicicleta (How to Read on a Bicycle) (1975);
• Problemas de una cultura matriotera (Problems of a Mother-Idolizing Culture) (1982);
• Imprenta y vida pública de Daniel Cosío Villegas (Printing House and Public Life of Daniel Cosío Villegas
  Daniel Cosío Villegas
  Daniel Cosío Villegas was a prominent Mexican economist, essayist, historian and diplomat.Cosío Villegas was born in Mexico City. After studying one year in engineering and two years of philosophy, he received a B.A. in Law from the National University and took several courses in economics at...
  
  ) (1985);
• ¿Adivinos o libreros? (Fortune Tellers or Book Store Owners) (1986);
• De los libros al poder (From Books to Power) (1988);
• Legítima defensa de la exención autoral que hacen numerosos autores mexicanos con buenas razones y ejemplos desde los tiempos prehispánicos (Legitimate Defense of the Author Exemption made by several Mexican Authors with Good Reasons and Examples since Pre-Hispanic Times) (1993).
• Los demasiados libros (So Many Books) (1996); English translation 2003 (Paul Dry Books, Philadelphia).

Social criticism

• El progreso improductivo (The Improductive Progress) (1979);
• La feria del progreso (The Progress Fair) (1982);
• La economía presidencial (The Presidential Economy) (1987);
• La nueva economía presidencial (The New Presidential Economy) (1994);
• Hacen falta empresarios creadores de empresarios (There's a Need of Entrepreneur-creating Entrepreneurs) (1995);
• Adiós al PRI (Farewell to the PRI
  Institutional Revolutionary Party
  The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few...
  
  ) (1995).