Hello
Gentle Reader,
Charles Simic was a singular lyrical poet, who was renowned for his refined and precise poetry. His epiphanic and concentrated poems were laced with his signature gallows humour. This dark sense of the absurd is credited to coming from Simic’s upbringing throughout the 20th Century, which includes the uncomfortably unified Yugoslavia (Charles Simic, is biographically defined as Serbian born American), and the Second World War. Simic would arrive in the United States at the age of 15 and didn’t begin to write in his adoptive language of English until he was in his twenties. It is perhaps due to this dual upbringing—a mere juxtaposition of perspectives and reality—which made Charles Simic such a singular and independent poet, one whose poetry encompassed not only historical resonance, violence, irony, and gallows humour with a penchant for the absurd, but also a consummate poetic stylist of deadpan delivery and a precision in language, which as the Griffin Poetry Prize judges stated: “[ . . . ] should never be mistaken for simplicity.” Charles Simic proved to be a singular visionary poet in contemporary American poetry, one whose fractured dichotomy of voices blended in both harmony and cacophony with equal measure. Simic would go on to receive the Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for his poetry collection: “The World Doesn’t End: Prose Poems,” he was a previous finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and 1987. Simic was prolific as he was renowned, with the rare gift of being able to maintain a high standard of quality in conjunction with prodigious production. Simic was also a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant. In addition to his poetry, he was an accomplished translator and curator of such marvelous writers into the English language, including Vasko Popa and Tomaž Šalamun. The past five or more years, Nobel Speculation had Charles Simic ranked high as a potential laureate. Recent speculation theorized there were internal discussions of weight between Louise Glück and Charles Simic. It wouldn’t be surprising if that were the case. Both poets are staunchly independent in both vision and execution. Louise Glück is austere and private, etching the personal through the prism of experience into the universal; while Charles Simic was expansive in view, vision, and articulation, his poetry encompassed the macro and the profound profanity of the eternal experience of the human condition, while providing commentary on both the personal and the mundane. They shared a similar use of language though deviated in application, with Glück being austere and steely in strict adherence to trim and exact poetry etched into eternity; while Simic ensured language was precise enough to become the borehole burrowing into time, entering the endless and infinite. To add to Simic’s distinguished literary career as accomplished and prizewinning poet, Charles Simic was a renowned university professor, essayist, and contributor to magazines, being an equally refined critic. Truly the literary world mourns an extraordinary poet, whose singular and independent vision truly was his own.
Rest in Peace Charles Simic.
Thank-you for Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
M. Mary
Charles Simic was a singular lyrical poet, who was renowned for his refined and precise poetry. His epiphanic and concentrated poems were laced with his signature gallows humour. This dark sense of the absurd is credited to coming from Simic’s upbringing throughout the 20th Century, which includes the uncomfortably unified Yugoslavia (Charles Simic, is biographically defined as Serbian born American), and the Second World War. Simic would arrive in the United States at the age of 15 and didn’t begin to write in his adoptive language of English until he was in his twenties. It is perhaps due to this dual upbringing—a mere juxtaposition of perspectives and reality—which made Charles Simic such a singular and independent poet, one whose poetry encompassed not only historical resonance, violence, irony, and gallows humour with a penchant for the absurd, but also a consummate poetic stylist of deadpan delivery and a precision in language, which as the Griffin Poetry Prize judges stated: “[ . . . ] should never be mistaken for simplicity.” Charles Simic proved to be a singular visionary poet in contemporary American poetry, one whose fractured dichotomy of voices blended in both harmony and cacophony with equal measure. Simic would go on to receive the Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for his poetry collection: “The World Doesn’t End: Prose Poems,” he was a previous finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and 1987. Simic was prolific as he was renowned, with the rare gift of being able to maintain a high standard of quality in conjunction with prodigious production. Simic was also a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant. In addition to his poetry, he was an accomplished translator and curator of such marvelous writers into the English language, including Vasko Popa and Tomaž Šalamun. The past five or more years, Nobel Speculation had Charles Simic ranked high as a potential laureate. Recent speculation theorized there were internal discussions of weight between Louise Glück and Charles Simic. It wouldn’t be surprising if that were the case. Both poets are staunchly independent in both vision and execution. Louise Glück is austere and private, etching the personal through the prism of experience into the universal; while Charles Simic was expansive in view, vision, and articulation, his poetry encompassed the macro and the profound profanity of the eternal experience of the human condition, while providing commentary on both the personal and the mundane. They shared a similar use of language though deviated in application, with Glück being austere and steely in strict adherence to trim and exact poetry etched into eternity; while Simic ensured language was precise enough to become the borehole burrowing into time, entering the endless and infinite. To add to Simic’s distinguished literary career as accomplished and prizewinning poet, Charles Simic was a renowned university professor, essayist, and contributor to magazines, being an equally refined critic. Truly the literary world mourns an extraordinary poet, whose singular and independent vision truly was his own.
Rest in Peace Charles Simic.
Thank-you for Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
M. Mary
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