An evening dedicated to Charles Simić, American poet of Serbian origin, was held at the Madlena Art Palace on 12 October 2024.
Having emigrated to America with his family in 1953, Simić became one of the greatest American poets of the 20 century. He started writing poems back in his high school days, with Walt Wittman, Emily Dickinson, and Wallace Stevens as the poets who had impact on his poetic beginnings. After the first published book of poetry, the others followed soon; however, they did not contain only poetry, but also prose and essays. Beside writing, he also translated, which was very important for Serbia, as, having translated Vasko Popa, Milorad Pavić, and Ivana Lalalić, he contributed to stronger popularization of Serbian literature in the USA.
In Yugoslavia, he made a guest appearance at Struga Evenings of Poetry in 1972. His Serbian editions include nine books of poems and four books of essays. He held unforgettable literary evenings in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Niš, and was exceptionally well-received by the audience.
Charles Simić was the winner of some important American and international awards, such as: the Pulitzer award, the award Edgar Allan Poe, the award of McArthur Foundation, etc.
Being one of the most renowned Serbian writers in diaspora, a ceremony in his honour was organized at the Madlena Art Palace, to commemorate his contribution to the world linguistic culture, and pay him respect as he had presented his mother tongue and culture in the best possible manner. The poetic evening dedicated to him started with a discussion moderated by speakers Gojko Božović, Vesna Roganović, Vladimir Pištalo, and Radmila Lazić, while his poems were read by actor Miodrag Krstović.
