Goran Simić (poet)

Simić in 2014 at the Tallinn Central Library within the framework of the literary festival HeadRead

Goran Simić (1952 – 29 September 2024) was a Serbian-Canadian poet from Bosnia and Herzegovina, recognized internationally for his works of poetry, essays, short stories, and theatre.

Early life and career

Simić was born in Vlasenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1952 and wrote eleven volumes of poetry, drama, and short fiction, including Sprinting from the Graveyard (Oxford, 1997). His work has been translated into nine languages and has been published and performed in several European countries. One of the most prominent writers of the former Yugoslavia, Simić was trapped in the Siege of Sarajevo. In 1995 he and his family were able to settle in Canada as the result of a Freedom to Write Award from PEN. Immigrant Blues was Simić's second full-length volume of poems in English, and the first to be published in Canada. This was followed by two books published in 2005: a poetry collection, From Sarajevo, With Sorrow—which involves a retranslation of the earlier, bowdlerized versions found in David Harsent's Sprinting from the Graveyard; and Yesterday's People, a collection of short fiction, which was shortlisted for both the Relit Award and the Danuta Gleed Award for best first collection of short fiction. (both published by Biblioasis). A volume of Simic's poetry titled Selected Poems was tentatively scheduled to be published in the Fall of 2007. In 2010, Simić published two more books: a poetry volume entitled Sunrise in the Eyes of the Snowman (Biblioasis) and his second collection of stories, Looking for Tito (Frog Hollow Press).

Later life and death

In 2006, Simić founded Luna Publications in Toronto, Canada. Simić joined the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of the University of Guelph in September 2006.

In 2013, he returned to live in Sarajevo.

Simić died on 29 September 2024, at the age of 72.