Andrei Codrescu
Romanian, American
1946-
Search for works owned by Grinnell College here.
"A Romanian-born poet, fiction writer, editor, and journalist, Andrei Codrescu was expelled from the University of Bucharest for his criticism of the communist government and fled his homeland before he was conscripted into the army. Traveling to Rome, the young writer learned to speak fluent Italian; he then went to Paris and finally to the United States. Arriving in the United States in 1966 without any money or knowledge of English, Codrescu was nonetheless impressed with the social revolution that was occurring around the country. Within four years he had learned to speak colloquial English colorfully and fluently enough to write and publish his first poetry collection, License to Carry a Gun. The collection was hailed by many critics who recognized Codrescu to be a promising young poet.
Although Codrescu enjoys the artistic freedoms that exist in the United States, he is still as critical of bureaucracy in his adopted country as he was in his native Romania--a skepticism that is made evident in his poetry and his autobiographies, The Life and Times of an Involuntary Genius and In America's Shoes. "In Mr. Codrescu's native Transylvania," Bruce Schlain observed in a New York Times Book Review article on the author's poetry collection Comrade Past and Mister Present, "poets are social spokesmen, and that perhaps explains his fearlessness of treading on the languages of philosophy, religion, politics, science or popular culture. His focus on a pet theme, oppression, is as much concerned with the private as with the public"(Contemporary Authors).
Codrescu, who became a U.S. citizen in 1981, edits the online journal Exquisite Corpse, has made frequent appearances on National Public Radio as a commentator and as an author, and lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he serves as the MacCurdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University.
For more information check out the display in Burling, Codrescu's personal website, or visit his page at Literary Resource Center online...
Related Authors:
John Kennedy Toole (1937-1969)
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994)
Marin Sorescu (1936-1997)
Rosemary James
