The Renegade
Writings on Poetry and a Few Other Things
by Charles Simic

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8076-1594-2 $19.95 (Can: $30.00)

IN THIS COLLECTION of essays, United States Poet Laureate Charles Simic delves into the lives and work of poets, novelists, artists and playwrights, beginning with his own experiences before turning to those of Christopher Marlowe, Odilon Redon, W. G. Sebald, Louise Glück and many more. Throughout, he celebrates the renegade spirit—whether it inspires a rogue ant to depart from his prescribed path, or poet to write unfashionably honest verse—communicating the joys and difficulties of life on the outside.

Simic brings the personal worlds of each writer and artist vividly to life, discussing their friends, homes, influences, and the rooms that shaped their outlooks. These intimate portraits—which afford views through Emily Dickinson’s attic window, or glimpses into the room where Donald Hall sat down to reinvent himself—urge the reader to regard writers and artists as protean, fallible human beings, rather than immutable icons.

CHARLES SIMIC, fifteenth United States Poet Laureate, is also an essayist and translator. His 1990 collection, The World Doesn’t End: Prose Poems, was awarded the Pullitzer Prize, and he has received numerous other literary honors. Born in Belgrade, Simic now lives in New Hampshire, where he is the professor Emeritus of American Literature and creative writing at the University of New Hampshire.