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Andrei Codrescu

アンドレイ・コドレスク

Andrei Codrescu

Pen Names: Andrei Steiu（Pen name used for early Romanian-language poetry）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1946-12-20 （Sibiu, Kingdom of Romania）
Nationality
Romania, United States
Languages
Romanian, English
Religion
Judaism (family background)
Residence History
Sibiu, Romania → Italy (briefly) → Detroit, United States → New York, United States → San Francisco, United States → Monte Rio, California, United States → Baltimore, United States → New Orleans, United States → Baton Rouge, United States

Career

Occupations
novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, screenwriter, commentator, professor
Active Years
1965-
Affiliations
Louisiana State University, Johns Hopkins University (teaching), National Public Radio (contributor/commentator), Exquisite Corpse (founder/editor)
Influenced By
Allen Ginsberg, Ted Berrigan, Anne Waldman
Nominations
National Book Award nominee (So Recently a World: Selected Poems, 1968-2016)

Awards

Peabody Award
1995
Work: Road Scholar
Organization: Peabody Awards
Result: 受賞
Ovid Prize
2005
Work: For poetry
Organization: Ovidius Prize
Result: 受賞
Big Table Poetry Award
1970
Work: License to Carry a Gun
Organization: Big Table
Result: 受賞
Pushcart Prize
Organization: Pushcart Press
Result: 受賞（複数回）
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
Work: poetry / editing / radio
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Road Scholar: Coast to Coast Late in the Century

1993 Non-fiction / Film

A journal of the making of the film Road Scholar; a travel/film diary written by Codrescu.

travelobservation of American cultureautobiographical elements
Adaptations
  • [film] Road Scholar

So Recently a World: Selected Poems, 1968-2016

2016 Poetry

A selected poems collection spanning 1968–2016, featuring retrospective and experimental language.

memoryexile and identitylinguistic experimentation

Submarinul iertat / The Forgiven Submarine

2007 Epic poetry / Poetry

A long epic poem co-written with Ruxandra Cesereanu; published/translated in Romanian and English.

collective memoryintersection of history and individual

The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara and Lenin Play Chess

2009 Critical essay / Cultural criticism

Essays on Dadaism and avant-garde culture, blending humor and criticism using historical figures and images.

avant-garde cultureart historysatire

Bibliography

  • No Time Like Now (2019)
  • The Art of Forgetting: new poems (2016)
  • Bibliodeath: My Archives (With Life in Footnotes) (2013)
  • The Poetry Lesson (2010)
  • Wakefield: a novel (2004)
  • Road Scholar: Coast to Coast Late in the Century (1993)
  • The Hole in the Flag: a Romanian Exile's Story of Return and Revolution (1991)
  • The Life & Times of an Involuntary Genius (1975)
  • License to Carry a Gun (1970)
  • Selected Poems 1970-1980 (1983)

Adaptations

  • Film 'Road Scholar' — a road movie written by and starring Codrescu (Peabody Award)

Translations by Author

  • In Praise of Sleep: Selected Poems of Lucian Blaga (translation)
  • At the Court of Yearning: Poems by Lucian Blaga (translation)

Translations of Works

  • Many works translated into Romanian (translations by Ioana Avadani, Carmen Firan, Rodica Grigore, etc.)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
experimental use of languageessayistic prosesatirical and observational voice
Recurring Motifs
exile and identitymemory and archivestravel and observation of American culturelinguistic hybridity

Legacy

A poet and critic known for his immigrant experience, poetry and essays. Influential across media — radio commentary and film — with archives held at institutions such as LSU.

Museums

  • LSU Libraries Special Collections Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
  • University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, Iowa, United States

Archives

  • LSU Libraries Special Collections holdings
  • University of Iowa Libraries holdings
  • New Orleans Historical Society holdings
  • University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign libraries holdings

In Popular Culture

  • Widely known as a longtime commentator on NPR's 'All Things Considered'
  • Influential as founder/editor of the online literary journal 'Exquisite Corpse'

Quotes

  • “Some Christians believe in a 'rapture' and four million believers will ascend to Heaven immediately. The evaporation of 4 million who believe this crap would leave the world an instantly better place.”
    Source: NPR 'All Things Considered' broadcast (December 19, 1995) (1995)

Trivia

  • Naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1981.
  • Served as King of the Krewe du Vieux for the 2002 New Orleans Mardi Gras season.
  • Founder and editor of the online literary journal 'Exquisite Corpse'.