Included in this collection of essays is an autobiographical sketch of the poet's early years in Yugoslavia during World War II

Charles Simic (born Dušan Simic, May 9, 1938 in Belgrade, Serbia) is a Serbian-American poet and the 15th Poet Laureate of the United States. He is co-Poetry Editor of the Paris Review. Simic is the 2007 recipient of the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets. This $100,000 (US) prize recognizes outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry.[1]

Simic was born in Belgrade, which was then in Yugoslavia. Growing up in war-torn Europe as a child shaped much of his world-view. In an interview from 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 emigrated to the United States with his family in 1953 when he was sixteen. He grew up in Chicago and received his B.A. from New York University. He is professor emeritus of American literature and creative writing at the University of New Hampshire and lives on the shore of Bow Lake in Strafford, New Hampshire.


On August 2, 2007, Simic was selected by James Billington, Librarian of Congress, to be the 15th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, succeeding Donald Hall. Billington referred to "the rather stunning and original quality of his poetry".[