19:2 Winter 1967

CHARLES SIMIC

Stone

Charles Simic published his first poems in the Winter 1959 issue of Chicago Review; he marked the occasion with a celebratory steak dinner. He has since published several works in the magazine, including the collaboration with James Tate reprinted in this anthology.

Of “Stone,” published in the Winter 1967 issue, Simic writes: “I recollect revising the last stanza and coming up with a new ending when the acceptance letter from you came after many months. I remember sitting in my small living room on East 13th Street in New York and revising. Since then, that poem has been included in a dozen or so anthologies and has been translated into several languages.” Revised versions of it have also been included in his 1971 collection, Dismantling the Silence, and in his Selected Poems: 1963-1983 (1985).

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