Charles Simic Biography

Charles Simic aka Dušan Simić is a living Poet Laureate of the Library of Congress. Born Dusan to a family of ethnic Serbs inside a fading kingdom, his early childhood was highly irregular due to an ongoing war. After a decade of his family being separated, they successfully managed to reunite by emigrating to the United States. In a bid to blend in among his peers at school Dusan took on the American sounding name 'Charles'. Inclined towards literature since an early age he began studying poetry at school. His original plans to graduate from an institution of higher learning were interrupted by another global war. Returning to the continent, Simic served two years in Europe. Deciding for a fresh start in New York, he quickly got married and then enrolled at a prestigious university. After his first few books of poetry were recognized and well-received, Simic's career began its meteoric rise until he became widely recognized in the world of literature. In acknowledgment of his talents, a prestigious American institution awarded Simic an elite literary award for demonstrating merits in the art. He was also asked to serve as a judge at a top-tier international poetry prize. The prolific poet’s writings soon garnered a slew of prizes, as well as fellowships, which felicitously combined with his distinguished career as a professor of literature and the writing arts