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‘Come closer and listen’

A tribute to Charles Simic (1938–2023)
by
November 2023, no. 459

‘Come closer and listen’

A tribute to Charles Simic (1938–2023)
by
November 2023, no. 459

It took me years to gather enough courage to introduce myself. Finally, deep into the Covid lockdown and a few months after receiving an award for my first collection of poems, I began my correspondence with Charles Simic by sending him an email to share the news, as if he were a family member, the one who would understand. He replied warmly, kindly, and in Serbian: ‘Draga Jelena …’

Charles Dusan Simic, a Yugoslavian-born American poet, essayist, and translator, died on 9 January 2023 in the United States, the country that was home to him from the age of fifteen. His other home, or a memory of it, would remain a constant presence throughout his literary life.

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