Charles Simic began writing poetry in high school when he discovered that one of his friends was “attracting the best-looking girls by writing them sappy love poems.” Throughout his career, Simic has stitched together poems with a playful lyricism that evokes this youthfulness. Since emigrating from Yugoslavia during World War II, he has published more than 60 books, including The World Doesn’t End (1989), winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and National Book Award finalists Walking the Black Cat (1996) and The Voice at 3:00 a.m. (2006). A two-time winner of the PEN International Translation Award, Simic has said that “poetry is not what is lost but what is retained in translation.” He has published four books of essays, most recently Memory Piano (2006).

Simic has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. A New Hampshire resident since 1973, he teaches at the University of New Hampshire.

Join Literary Arts and Northwest Writing Institute for a discussion of Charles Simic’s work on March 19, 2007, led by local poet Judith Barrington.