August 2, 2007: Charles Simic has been appointed as the 15th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.

Simic succeeds Donald Hall, a fellow New Englander, in this position, and joins a long line of distinguished poets who have served in this role, including Ted Kooser, Louise Glück, Billy Collins, Stanley Kunitz, Robert Pinsky, Robert Hass and Rita Dove.

Mr. Simic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and immigrated to the United States in 1953 with his family, at the age of 16. He has published more than 20 volumes of poetry, as well as essay collections, translations and a memoir.

A retired professor at the University of New Hampshire, Simic has been awarded multiple accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1990 and a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant, which he held from 1984 to 1989. He currently serves on the University of Iowa's International Writing Program advisory board as well.

There are many resources highlighting Charles Simic’s career available online. We have compiled a list of links below, including a complete list by the Library of Congress of internal and external websites on Simic’s poetry, biographies, interviews, book reviews, and more.

Library of Congress: Charles Simic Online Resources
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/charlessimic

Acadamy of American Poets: Biography
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/27

The Paris Review: Interview
http://www.theparisreview.com

Charles Simic on NPR's The Connection
http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2003/05/20030519_b_main.asp

A review of Simic's The Voice at 3:00 A.M.: Selected Late and New Poems
http://bostonreview.net/BR28.6/paloff.html

Poetry: Listen by Charles Simic
http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2007/05/14/070514po_poem_simic

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