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Charles Simic
Charles Simic , 1938–, American poet, b. Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Simic moved to the United States in 1954, joining his father, who had arrived before World War II. Simic studied at New York Univ. (B.A., 1966) and taught at several colleges, most notably from 1974 at the Univ. of New Hampshire, where he is now a professor emeritus. Simic has written more than 60 books, including the poetry collections What the Grass Says (1960), Charon's Cosmology (1977), Unending Blues (1986), The World Doesn't End (1990, Pulitzer Prize), Walking the Black Cat (1996), Jackstraws (1999), The Voice at 3:00 AM (2003), My Noiseless Entourage (2005), and That Little Something (2008). His poetry is stark and startlingly original, with touches of ironic humor; his language is plainspoken and accessible, although his imagery is often dark and sometimes bizarre. He also is celebrated for his translations of Yugoslav and French poets and has written many essays and edited several anthologies. A former MacArthur fellow (1984–89), Simic was named U.S. poet laureate in 2007.
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"Charles Simic." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Charles Simic." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SimicC.html "Charles Simic." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SimicC.html |
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Simic, Charles
Simic, Charles (1938– ), Serbian-born poet, who moved to America at the age of 15. His collection White (1972) returns to the foreign country he equates with his past. His poems in this collection typically combine this perspective on a historical ‘elsewhere’ with his characteristically original depictions of everyday objects. This portrayal of the familiar in startling, often unsettling ways runs through his later collections, most notably Charon's Cosmology (1977), Classic Ballroom Dances (1980), and Austerities (1982), and betrays the influence of the Surrealists, as well as of Serbian poetry, which he has done much to promote. The Horse Has Six Legs (1992) is a collection of his own translations of Serbian poetry. Much of his work deals with this dual identity, as a Serbian writer who returns to his ‘psychic roots’, but ‘with foreign words in my mouth’. A revised and expanded edition of his Selected Poems 1963–1983 was published in 1990.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Simic, Charles." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Simic, Charles." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-SimicCharles.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Simic, Charles." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-SimicCharles.html |
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Simic, Charles
Simic, Charles (1938– ),poet. Born in what was Yugoslavia of Serbian parents, he settled with his family in Chicago in 1954 and began writing poetry in English while in high school. After education at the University of Chicago as well as at New York University, and service in the army, Simic published his first collection of poems, What the Grass Says (1967). Selected Poems 1963–1983 was published in 1985. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim and a MacArthur award. Later poems appear in Unending Blues (1986), The Book of Gods and Devils (1990), and Hotel Insomnia (1993). The World Doesn't End (1989), prose poems, won a Pulitzer Prize. Simic's poems are short, mixing realism with surrealism, and sometimes myth.
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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Simic, Charles." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Simic, Charles." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-SimicCharles.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Simic, Charles." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-SimicCharles.html |
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