Charles Simic
Encyclopedia
Dušan "Charles" Simić is a Serbian-American poet, and was co-Poetry Editor of the Paris Review
Paris Review
The Paris Review is a literary quarterly founded in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen and George Plimpton. Plimpton edited the Review from its founding until his death in 2003. In its first five years, The Paris Review published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip Larkin, V. S...

. He was appointed the fifteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the nation's official poet. During his or her term, the Poet Laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of...

 in 2007.

Early years

Simic was born in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

, Serbia
Socialist Republic of Serbia
Socialist Republic of Serbia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is a predecessor of modern day Serbia, which served as the biggest republic in the Yugoslav federation and held the largest population of all the Yugoslav...

 then part of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

. Growing up as a child in war-torn Europe shaped much of his world-view, Simic states. In an interview from the Cortland Review he said, "Being one of the millions of displaced persons made an impression on me. In addition to my own little story of bad luck, I heard plenty of others. I'm still amazed by all the vileness and stupidity I witnessed in my life." Simic immigrated to the United States with his family in 1954 when he was sixteen. He grew up in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 and received his B.A. from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

. He is professor emeritus of American literature and creative writing at the University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...

 and lives on the shore of Bow Lake
Bow Lake (New Hampshire)
Bow Lake is a water body located in Strafford and Rockingham counties in eastern New Hampshire, United States, in the towns of Strafford and Northwood. Its outlet is the Isinglass River, flowing east to the Atlantic Ocean via the Cocheco and Piscataqua rivers....

 in Strafford, New Hampshire
Strafford, New Hampshire
Strafford is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,991 at the 2010 census. The two main settlements in town are the villages of Center Strafford and Bow Lake Village.- History :...

.

Career

He began to make a name for himself in the early to mid 1970s as a literary minimalist, writing terse, imagistic poems. Critics have often referred to Simic poems as "tightly constructed Chinese puzzle boxes." Simic has stated: "Words make love on the page like flies in the summer heat and the poet is merely the bemused spectator." He writes on such diverse topics as jazz, art, and philosophy. He is also a translator, essayist and philosopher, opining on the current state of contemporary American poetry. He held the position of poetry editor of The Paris Review, and was replaced by Dan Chiasson
Dan Chiasson
-Life:He graduated from Amherst College and Harvard University, with a Ph.D in English.He is currently an associate professor at Wellesley College. He lives in Sudbury, Massachusetts....

.

Simic was one of the judges for the 2007 Griffin Poetry Prize
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....

 and continues to contribute poetry and prose to The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...

. Simic received the US$100,000 Wallace Stevens Award in 2007 from the Academy of American Poets
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...

. Simic was selected by James Billington
James Billington
James Billington may refer to:* James Billington , executioner for the British government* James H. Billington , American librarian and academic...

, Librarian of Congress, to be the fifteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the nation's official poet. During his or her term, the Poet Laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of...

, succeeding Donald Hall
Donald Hall
Donald Hall is an American poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2006.-Personal life:...

. Billington referred to "the rather stunning and original quality of his poetry".

Awards

  • MacArthur Fellowship (1984–1989)
  • Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
    Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
    The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...

     (1990)
  • Wallace Stevens Award (2007)
  • Frost Medal
    Frost Medal
    The Robert Frost Medal is an award of the Poetry Society of America for "distinguished lifetime service to American poetry." Medalists receive a prize purse of $2,500....

     (2011)

Poetry collections

  • 1967
    1967 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Cecil Day-Lewis is selected as the new Poet Laureate of the UK....

    : What the Grass Says
  • 1969
    1969 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* FIELD magazine founded at Oberlin College...

    : Somewhere among Us a Stone is Taking Notes
  • 1971
    1971 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* This Magazine founded by Robert Grenier and Barrett Watten...

    : Dismantling the Silence
  • 1972
    1972 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* John Betjeman becomes Poet Laureate...

    : White
  • 1974
    1974 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman....

    : Return to a Place Lit by a Glass of Milk
  • 1976
    1976 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Two poems written in 1965 by Mao Zedong just before the Cultural Revolution, including "Two Birds: A Dialogue", are published on January 1-Works published in English:Listed by nation where the work...

    : Biography and a Lament
  • 1977
    1977 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January – James Dickey, composed a poem he read at new United States President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala although not at the inauguration itself.* British publication Gay News successfully...

    : Charon's Cosmology
  • 1978
    1978 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Magazine, edited by Bruce Andrews and Charles Bernstein, first published...

    : Brooms: Selected Poems
  • 1978
    1978 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Magazine, edited by Bruce Andrews and Charles Bernstein, first published...

    : School for Dark Thoughts
  • 1980
    1980 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Mark Jarman and Robert McDowell started the small magazine The Reaper to promote narrative and formal poetry....

    : Classic Ballroom Dances
  • 1982
    1982 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Final edition of This Magazine published....

    : Austerities
  • 1983
    1983 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Frogmore Press founded by Andre Evans and Jeremy Page at the Frogmore tea-rooms in Folkestone...

    : Weather Forecast for Utopia and Vicinity
  • 1985
    1985 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The term "New Formalism" was first used in the article "The Yuppie Poet" in the May 1985 issue of the AWP Newsletter in an attack on the poetry movement...

    : Selected Poems, 1963–1983
  • 1986
    1986 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* New American Writing, an annual literary magazine concentrating on poetry, is founded in Chicago, Illinois....

    : Unending Blues
  • 1989
    1989 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Dead Poets Society, a film incorporating excerpts from many traditional poets, ending with the title and opening line of Walt Whitman's lament on the death of Abraham Lincoln, "O Captain! My...

    : Nine Poems
  • 1989
    1989 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Dead Poets Society, a film incorporating excerpts from many traditional poets, ending with the title and opening line of Walt Whitman's lament on the death of Abraham Lincoln, "O Captain! My...

    : The World Doesn't End: Prose Poems (1990 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
    Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
    The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...

     )
  • 1990
    1990 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Allen Ginsberg crowned "Majelis King" in Prague on May Day...

    : The Book of Gods and Devils
  • 1992
    1992 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:The Forward Book of Poetry, an annual anthology of best British poems, is published for the first time by the Forward Poetry Trust. By 2003, the publication was selling 5,000 to 7,000 copies a year...

    : Hotel Insomnia, Harcourt
  • 1994
    1994 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Allen Ginsberg sells his papers to Stanford University for $1 million.* C. P...

    : A Wedding in Hell: Poems
  • 1995
    1995 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 16 — Announcement that 300 poems by S.T...

    : Frightening Toys
  • 1996
    1996 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996 as way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.* The movie Dead Man, written and...

    : Walking the Black Cat: Poems, (National Book Award in Poetry finalist)
  • 1999
    1999 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* July 1 — Scotland's Parliament opened with the singing of Robert Burns' "A Man's a Man For A'That", instead of "God Save The Queen"...

    : Jackstraws: Poems (New York Times Notable Book of the Year) ISBN 0156010984
  • 2000
    2000 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...

    : Selected Early Poems
  • 2001
    2001 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Immediately after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, W. H...

    : Night Picnic, ISBN 015100630X
  • 2003
    2003 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry was opened at Queens University, Belfast, this year. It houses the Heaney Media Archive, a unique record of Heaney's entire oeuvre, as well as a full catalogue of...

    : The Voice at 3:00 A.M.: Selected Late and New Poems ISBN 015603073X
  • 2004
    2003 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry was opened at Queens University, Belfast, this year. It houses the Heaney Media Archive, a unique record of Heaney's entire oeuvre, as well as a full catalogue of...

    : Selected Poems: 1963–2003, 2004 (winner of the 2005 International Griffin Poetry Prize
    Griffin Poetry Prize
    The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....

    )
  • 2005
    2005 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...

    : Aunt Lettuce, I Want to Peek under Your Skirt (illustrated by Howie Michels)
  • 2005
    2005 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...

    : My Noiseless Entourage: Poems, ISBN 0151012148
  • 2006
    2006 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* French public notary Patrick Huet unveils Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World in Lyon...

    : Monkey Around
  • 2008
    2008 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* June — the release in the United Kingdom of a new film, The Edge of Love, Dylan Thomas' relationship with two women, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys *...

    : 60 Poems, ISBN 0156035642
  • 2008
    2008 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* June — the release in the United Kingdom of a new film, The Edge of Love, Dylan Thomas' relationship with two women, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys *...

    : That Little Something: Poems, ISBN 0156035391
  • 2008
    2008 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* June — the release in the United Kingdom of a new film, The Edge of Love, Dylan Thomas' relationship with two women, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys *...

    : Monster Loves His Labyrinth, ISBN 1931337403
  • 2008
    2008 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* June — the release in the United Kingdom of a new film, The Edge of Love, Dylan Thomas' relationship with two women, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys *...

    : Army: Memoir. In preparation
  • 2010
    2010 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 19 - For the first time since 1949, an anonymous black-clad man, known as the Poe Toaster, failed to show up at the tomb of Edgar Allan Poe at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, early...

    : Master of Disguises"

Collections in translations by Simic

  • 1970
    1970 in literature
    The year 1970 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Deliverance by American poet James Dickey published...

    : Ivan V. Lalić
    Ivan V. Lalic
    Ivan V. Lalić was a Serbian poet with a reputation as one of the finest European poets of his time.-Biography:...

    , Fire Gardens
  • 1970
    1970 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* May – "La nuit de la poésie", a poetry reading in Montreal bringing together poets from French Canada to recite before an audience of more than 2,000 in the Théâtre du Gesu, lasting until 7...

    : Vasko Popa
    Vasko Popa
    - Biography :Popa was born in the village of Grebenac , Vojvodina, Serbia. After finishing high school, he enrolled as a student of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy. He continued his studies at the University of Bucharest and in Vienna...

    , The Little Box: Poems
  • 1970
    1970 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* May – "La nuit de la poésie", a poetry reading in Montreal bringing together poets from French Canada to recite before an audience of more than 2,000 in the Théâtre du Gesu, lasting until 7...

    : Four Modern Yugoslav Poets: Ivan V. Lalić
    Ivan V. Lalic
    Ivan V. Lalić was a Serbian poet with a reputation as one of the finest European poets of his time.-Biography:...

    , Branko Miljkovic
    Branko Miljkovic
    Branko Miljković was an iconic Serbian poet. He was best known across Yugoslavia and the Soviet bloc for his influential writings. He died prematurely in 1961 at the age of 27, found hanging from a tree in Zagreb, Croatia...

    , Milorad Pavić
    Milorad Pavic (writer)
    Milorad Pavić was a Serbian poet, prose writer, translator, and literary historian. He was also a candidate for Nobel Prize in Literature....

    , Ljubomir Simović
    Ljubomir Simović
    Ljubomir Simović is a Serbian poet. He is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.- External links :*...

  • 1979
    1979 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Kenyon Review is restarted by Kenyon College 10 years after the original publication was closed....

    : Vasko Popa
    Vasko Popa
    - Biography :Popa was born in the village of Grebenac , Vojvodina, Serbia. After finishing high school, he enrolled as a student of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy. He continued his studies at the University of Bucharest and in Vienna...

    , Homage to the Lame Wolf: Selected Poems
  • 1983
    1983 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Frogmore Press founded by Andre Evans and Jeremy Page at the Frogmore tea-rooms in Folkestone...

    : Co-translator, Slavko Mihalic, Atlantis
  • 1987
    1987 in literature
    The year 1987 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Wolfe was paid $5 million for the film rights to his novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, the most ever earned by an author, at the time.-Fiction:...

    : Tomaž Šalamun
    Tomaz Salamun
    Tomaž Šalamun is a Slovenian poet. He was born in 1941 in Zagreb, Croatia, and raised in Koper, Slovenia. He has published 39 collections of poetry in his native Slovenian language. Šalamun spent two years at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop in the 1970s and has lived for periods of time in...

    , Selected Poems
  • 1987
    1987 in literature
    The year 1987 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Wolfe was paid $5 million for the film rights to his novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, the most ever earned by an author, at the time.-Fiction:...

    : Ivan V. Lalić
    Ivan V. Lalic
    Ivan V. Lalić was a Serbian poet with a reputation as one of the finest European poets of his time.-Biography:...

    , Roll Call of Mirrors
  • 1989
    1989 in literature
    The year 1989 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 24 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini places a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.-Literature:...

    : Aleksandar Ristovic, Some Other Wine or Light
  • 1991
    1991 in literature
    The year 1991 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Douglas Coupland publishes the novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularizing the term Generation X as the name of the generation....

    : Stavko Janevski, Bandit Wind
  • 1992
    1992 in poetry
    Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:The Forward Book of Poetry, an annual anthology of best British poems, is published for the first time by the Forward Poetry Trust. By 2003, the publication was selling 5,000 to 7,000 copies a year...

    : Novica Tadić
    Novica Tadic
    Novica Tadić was a Serbian poet. He was born in a small village in Montenegro and spent most of his life in Belgrade....

    , Night Mail: Selected Poems
  • 1992
    1992 in literature
    The year 1992 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Ben Aaronovitch - Transit*Julia Álvarez - How the García Girls Lost Their Accents*Paul Auster - Leviathan*Iain Banks - The Crow Road...

    : Horse Has Six Legs: Contemporary Serbian Poetry
  • 1999
    1999 in literature
    The year 1999 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*June 19 - Stephen King is hit by a Dodge van while taking a walk. He spends the next three weeks hospitalized...

    : Aleksander Ristovic, Devil's Lunch
  • 2003
    2003 in literature
    The year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Peter Ackroyd - The Clerkenwell Tales*Atsuko Asano - No...

    : Radmila Lazic, A Wake for the Living
  • 2004
    2004 in literature
    The year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....

    : Günter Grass
    Günter Grass
    Günter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...

    , The Günter Grass Reader

Prose collections

  • 1985
    1985 in literature
    The year 1985 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Isaac Asimov - Robots and Empire*Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale*Jean M. Auel - The Mammoth Hunters*Iain Banks - Walking on Glass...

    : The Uncertain Certainty: Interviews, Essays, and Notes on Poetry
  • 1990
    1990 in literature
    The year 1990 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*J. K. Rowling gets the idea for Harry Potter while on a train ride from Manchester to London. She says "I was staring out the window, and the idea for Harry just came. He appeared in my mind's eye, very fully formed...

    : Wonderful Words, Silent Truth
  • 1992
    1992 in literature
    The year 1992 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Ben Aaronovitch - Transit*Julia Álvarez - How the García Girls Lost Their Accents*Paul Auster - Leviathan*Iain Banks - The Crow Road...

    : Dime-Store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell
    Joseph Cornell
    Joseph Cornell was an American artist and sculptor, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage...

  • 1994
    1994 in literature
    The year 1994 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Kevin J. Anderson - Champions of the Force, Dark Apprentice and Jedi Search*Reed Arvin - The Wind in the Wheat*Greg Bear - Songs of Earth and Power...

    : The Unemployed Fortune-Teller: Essays and Memoirs
  • 1997
    1997 in literature
    The year 1997 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Clancy signs a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. , giving him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . A second agreement gives him another US$25 million for a...

    : Orphan Factory: Essays and Memoirs
  • 2000
    2000 in literature
    The year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published...

    : A Fly in the Soup: Memoirs
  • 2003
    2003 in literature
    The year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Peter Ackroyd - The Clerkenwell Tales*Atsuko Asano - No...

    : The Metaphysician in the Dark
  • 2008
    2008 in literature
    The year 2008 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 1 - In the 2008 New Year Honours, Hanif Kureishi , Jenny Uglow , Peter Vansittart and Debjani Chatterjee are all rewarded for "services to literature".*June 15 - Gore Vidal, asked in a New York Times...

    : The Renegade


Profiles


Work


Interviews and review

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