ANDREI CODRESCU was born in Transylvania, Romania, and emigrated to the United States in 1966. He has numerous wonderful books: poems, novels, and essays. He founded Exquisite Corpse: a Journal of Books and Ideas. He was a regular commentator on NPR’s All Things Considered. He taught literature and poetry at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Baltimore, and Louisiana State University. These days, he lives in Arkansas.


“This poetry punk’s supreme corruption is The Art of Forgetting. Like genial Borges, Codrescu is unforgettable. Horror of Codrescu is he is fun. Not serious like Putin who kills for fun. Andrei is a word tsar and wonder smith making crooked beauty. Banish him to an African game park. The giraffes will play polo, hippos rock, and poachers sing Bach in Sunday school.”—Willis Barnstone