diff --git a/docs/reference/main_loop.rst b/docs/reference/main_loop.rst
index 81f070137..3c21589b2 100644
--- a/docs/reference/main_loop.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/main_loop.rst
@@ -32,3 +32,8 @@ AsyncioEventLoop
 ----------------
 
 .. autoclass:: AsyncioEventLoop
+
+ZMQEventLoop
+------------
+
+.. autoclass:: ZMQEventLoop
diff --git a/test_requirements.txt b/test_requirements.txt
index 5acdfc856..b89ea7a3b 100644
--- a/test_requirements.txt
+++ b/test_requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 tornado>=5
 coverage[toml]
 twisted
-trio
\ No newline at end of file
+trio
+zmq
diff --git a/urwid/__init__.py b/urwid/__init__.py
index 3c7f3eb30..eb4ffd386 100644
--- a/urwid/__init__.py
+++ b/urwid/__init__.py
@@ -213,5 +213,10 @@
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
+try:
+    from urwid.event_loop import ZMQEventLoop
+except ImportError:
+    pass
+
 # Backward compatibility
 VERSION = __version_tuple__
diff --git a/urwid/event_loop/__init__.py b/urwid/event_loop/__init__.py
index b7bccfcdc..34a07fd89 100644
--- a/urwid/event_loop/__init__.py
+++ b/urwid/event_loop/__init__.py
@@ -31,3 +31,8 @@
     from .trio_loop import TrioEventLoop
 except ImportError:
     pass
+
+try:
+    from .zmq_loop import ZMQEventLoop
+except ImportError:
+    pass
diff --git a/urwid/event_loop/zmq_loop.py b/urwid/event_loop/zmq_loop.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9f47c8508
--- /dev/null
+++ b/urwid/event_loop/zmq_loop.py
@@ -0,0 +1,232 @@
+# Urwid main loop code using ZeroMQ queues
+#    Copyright (C) 2019 Dave Jones
+#
+#    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+#    modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+#    License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+#    version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#    This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+#    Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+#    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+#    License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+#    Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+#
+# Urwid web site: https://urwid.org/
+
+"""ZeroMQ based urwid EventLoop implementation.
+
+`ZeroMQ <https://zeromq.org>`_ library is required.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import time
+import errno
+import heapq
+import typing
+from itertools import count
+from collections.abc import Callable
+
+import zmq
+
+from .abstract_loop import EventLoop, ExitMainLoop
+
+
+ZMQAlarmHandle = typing.TypeVar('ZMQAlarmHandle')
+ZMQQueueHandle = typing.TypeVar('ZMQQueueHandle')
+ZMQFileHandle = typing.TypeVar('ZMQFileHandle')
+ZMQIdleHandle = typing.TypeVar('ZMQIdleHandle')
+
+
+class ZMQEventLoop(EventLoop):
+    """
+    This class is an urwid event loop for `ZeroMQ`_ applications. It is very
+    similar to :class:`SelectEventLoop`, supporting the usual :meth:`alarm`
+    events and file watching (:meth:`watch_file`) capabilities, but also
+    incorporates the ability to watch zmq queues for events
+    (:meth:`watch_queue`).
+
+    .. _ZeroMQ: https://zeromq.org/
+    """
+    _alarm_break = count()
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self._did_something = True
+        self._alarms = []
+        self._poller = zmq.Poller()
+        self._queue_callbacks = {}
+        self._idle_handle = 0
+        self._idle_callbacks = {}
+
+    def alarm(self, seconds: float | int, callback: Callable[[], typing.Any]) -> ZMQAlarmHandle:
+        """
+        Call *callback* a given time from now. No parameters are passed to
+        callback. Returns a handle that may be passed to :meth:`remove_alarm`.
+
+        :param float seconds:
+            floating point time to wait before calling callback.
+
+        :param callback:
+            function to call from event loop.
+        """
+        handle = (time.time() + seconds, next(self._alarm_break), callback)
+        heapq.heappush(self._alarms, handle)
+        return handle
+
+    def remove_alarm(self, handle: ZMQAlarmHandle) -> bool:
+        """
+        Remove an alarm. Returns ``True`` if the alarm exists, ``False``
+        otherwise.
+        """
+        try:
+            self._alarms.remove(handle)
+            heapq.heapify(self._alarms)
+            return True
+        except ValueError:
+            return False
+
+    def watch_queue(self, queue: zmq.Socket, callback: Callable[[], typing.Any],
+                    flags: int=zmq.POLLIN) -> ZMQQueueHandle:
+        """
+        Call *callback* when zmq *queue* has something to read (when *flags* is
+        set to ``POLLIN``, the default) or is available to write (when *flags*
+        is set to ``POLLOUT``). No parameters are passed to the callback.
+        Returns a handle that may be passed to :meth:`remove_watch_queue`.
+
+        :param queue:
+            The zmq queue to poll.
+
+        :param callback:
+            The function to call when the poll is successful.
+
+        :param int flags:
+            The condition to monitor on the queue (defaults to ``POLLIN``).
+        """
+        if queue in self._queue_callbacks:
+            raise ValueError('already watching %r' % queue)
+        self._poller.register(queue, flags)
+        self._queue_callbacks[queue] = callback
+        return queue
+
+    def watch_file(self, fd: int, callback: Callable[[], typing.Any],
+                   flags: int=zmq.POLLIN) -> ZMQFileHandle:
+        """
+        Call *callback* when *fd* has some data to read. No parameters are
+        passed to the callback. The *flags* are as for :meth:`watch_queue`.
+        Returns a handle that may be passed to :meth:`remove_watch_file`.
+
+        :param fd:
+            The file-like object, or fileno to monitor.
+
+        :param callback:
+            The function to call when the file has data available.
+
+        :param int flags:
+            The condition to monitor on the file (defaults to ``POLLIN``).
+        """
+        if isinstance(fd, int):
+            fd = os.fdopen(fd)
+        self._poller.register(fd, flags)
+        self._queue_callbacks[fd.fileno()] = callback
+        return fd
+
+    def remove_watch_queue(self, handle: ZMQQueueHandle) -> bool:
+        """
+        Remove a queue from background polling. Returns ``True`` if the queue
+        was being monitored, ``False`` otherwise.
+        """
+        try:
+            try:
+                self._poller.unregister(handle)
+            finally:
+                self._queue_callbacks.pop(handle, None)
+            return True
+        except KeyError:
+            return False
+
+    def remove_watch_file(self, handle: ZMQFileHandle) -> bool:
+        """
+        Remove a file from background polling. Returns ``True`` if the file was
+        being monitored, ``False`` otherwise.
+        """
+        try:
+            try:
+                self._poller.unregister(handle)
+            finally:
+                self._queue_callbacks.pop(handle.fileno(), None)
+            return True
+        except KeyError:
+            return False
+
+    def enter_idle(self, callback: Callable[[], typing.Any]) -> ZMQIdleHandle:
+        """
+        Add a *callback* to be executed when the event loop detects it is idle.
+        Returns a handle that may be passed to :meth:`remove_enter_idle`.
+        """
+        self._idle_handle += 1
+        self._idle_callbacks[self._idle_handle] = callback
+        return self._idle_handle
+
+    def remove_enter_idle(self, handle: ZMQIdleHandle) -> bool:
+        """
+        Remove an idle callback. Returns ``True`` if *handle* was removed,
+        ``False`` otherwise.
+        """
+        try:
+            del self._idle_callbacks[handle]
+            return True
+        except KeyError:
+            return False
+
+    def _entering_idle(self) -> None:
+        for callback in list(self._idle_callbacks.values()):
+            callback()
+
+    def run(self) -> None:
+        """
+        Start the event loop. Exit the loop when any callback raises an
+        exception. If :exc:`ExitMainLoop` is raised, exit cleanly.
+        """
+        try:
+            while True:
+                try:
+                    self._loop()
+                except zmq.error.ZMQError as exc:
+                    if exc.errno != errno.EINTR:
+                        raise
+        except ExitMainLoop:
+            pass
+
+    def _loop(self) -> None:
+        """
+        A single iteration of the event loop.
+        """
+        if self._alarms or self._did_something:
+            if self._alarms:
+                state = 'alarm'
+                timeout = max(0, self._alarms[0][0] - time.time())
+            if self._did_something and (not self._alarms or
+                                        (self._alarms and timeout > 0)):
+                state = 'idle'
+                timeout = 0
+            ready = dict(self._poller.poll(timeout * 1000))
+        else:
+            state = 'wait'
+            ready = dict(self._poller.poll())
+
+        if not ready:
+            if state == 'idle':
+                self._entering_idle()
+                self._did_something = False
+            elif state == 'alarm':
+                due, tie_break, callback = heapq.heappop(self._alarms)
+                callback()
+                self._did_something = True
+
+        for queue, _ in ready.items():
+            self._queue_callbacks[queue]()
+            self._did_something = True
diff --git a/urwid/tests/test_event_loops.py b/urwid/tests/test_event_loops.py
index a15bc7248..009f99689 100644
--- a/urwid/tests/test_event_loops.py
+++ b/urwid/tests/test_event_loops.py
@@ -253,3 +253,13 @@ def test_error(self):
             evl = self.evl
             evl.alarm(0, lambda: 1 / 0)  # Simulate error in event loop
             self.assertRaises(ZeroDivisionError, evl.run)
+
+
+try:
+    import zmq
+except ImportError:
+    pass
+else:
+    class ZMQEventLoopTest(unittest.TestCase, EventLoopTestMixin):
+        def setUp(self):
+            self.evl = urwid.ZMQEventLoop()