Andrei Codrescu Explained

Andrei Codrescu
Birth Date:	20 December 1946
Birth Place:	Romania
Genre:	Poetry, screenwriting, journalism, fiction, non-fiction

Andrei Codrescu (in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /anˈdrej koˈdresku/; born December 20, 1946) is a Romanian-born American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio.^[1] He is the winner of the Peabody Award for his film Road Scholar and the Ovid Prize for poetry. He was Mac Curdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University from 1984 until his retirement in 2009.

Biography

Codrescu's father was an ethnic Romanian engineer; his mother was a non-practicing Jew. Their son was informed of his Jewish background at age 13.^[2] Codrescu published his first poems in Romanian under the pen name Andrei Steiu. In 1965 he and his mother, a photographer and printer, were able to leave Romania after Israel paid US$2,000 (or US$10,000, according to other sources^[3]) to the Romanian communist regime for each of them.^{[4] [5]} After some time in Italy, they moved to the United States in 1966, and settled in Detroit, where he became a regular at John Sinclair's Artists and Writers' Workshop. A year later, he moved to New York, where he became part of the literary scene on the Lower East Side. There he met Allen Ginsberg, Ted Berrigan, and Anne Waldman, and published his first poems in English.

In 1970, his poetry book, License to Carry a Gun, won the "Big Table Poetry Award".^{[6] [7]} He moved to San Francisco in 1970, and lived on the West Coast for seven years, four of those in Monte Rio, a Sonoma County town on the Russian River. He also lived in Baltimore (where he taught at Johns Hopkins University), New Orleans and Baton Rouge, publishing a book every year. During this time he wrote poetry, stories, essays and reviews for many publications, including The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Harper's, and the Paris Review. He had regular columns in The Baltimore Sun, the City Paper, Architecture, Funny Times, Gambit Weekly, and Neon. Codrescu was a regular commentator on National Public Radio's news program, All Things Considered, from 1983 until 2016.^[8] He won the 1995 Peabody Award for the film Road Scholar, an American road movie that he wrote and starred in, and is a two-time winner of the Pushcart Prize.^[9] His book So Recently a World: Selected Poems, 1968-2016 was a National Book Award nominee.

In 1989, Codrescu covered the Romanian Revolution of 1989 for National Public Radio and ABC News's Nightline. His renewed interest in the Romanian language and literature led to new work written in Romanian, including Miracle and Catastrophe, a book-length interview conducted by the theologian Robert Lazu, and The Forgiven Submarine, an epic poem written in collaboration with poet Ruxandra Cesereanu, which won the 2008 Radio România Cultural award. His books have been translated into Romanian by Ioana Avadani, Ioana Ieronim, Carmen Firan, Rodica Grigore, and Lacrimioara Stoie. In 2002 Codrescu returned to Romania with a PBS Frontline World video crew to "take the temperature" of his homeland and produced the story, "My Old Haunts".^[10] In 2005 he was awarded the prestigious international Ovidius Prize (also known as the Ovid Prize), previous winners of which include Mario Vargas Llosa, Amos Oz, and Orhan Pamuk.

In 1981, Codrescu became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He is the editor and founder of the online journal Exquisite Corpse,^[11] a journal of "books and ideas". He reigned as King of the Krewe du Vieux for the 2002 New Orleans Mardi Gras season. He has two children, Lucian and Tristan, from his marriage to Alice Henderson. He is currently married to Laura Cole Rosenthal.

Codrescu's archives and much of his personal library are now part of the Louisiana State University Libraries Special Collections,^[12] University of Iowa Libraries, New Orleans Historical Society, and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

Family

His first wife was Aurelia Munteanu.^[13] His second wife was Alice Henderson, the mother of his two sons, Lucian Codrescu^[14] and Tristan Codrescu.^[15] His third wife, Laura Rosenthal^[16] (née Cole), was an editor at Exquisite Corpse: a Journal of Books & Ideas and coeditor of three poetry anthologies.

Awards and honors

• • MacCurdy Distinguished Professor of English, Louisiana State University Peabody Award for Road Scholar
• Ovid Prize
• National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships for poetry; editing; radio
• Big Table Poetry Award^[17]
• Lowell Thomas Gold Award for Excellence in Travel Journalism
• Towson State University Literature Prize
• General Electric Foundation Poetry Prize
• ACLU Freedom of Speech Award; Mayor's Arts Award, New Orleans
• Literature Prize of the Romanian Cultural Foundation, Bucharest

Works

Books

• Book: Codrescu, Andrei . No Time Like Now . University of Pittsburgh Press . 2019 . codrescu.com.
• Book: Codrescu, Andrei . Submarinul Iertat by Ruxandra Cesereanu & Andrei Codrescu Anniversary Edition with Epistolary . Editura Charmades . 2017 . Bucharest . codrescu.com.
• Book: Codrescu, Andrei . The Art of Forgetting: new poems . Editura Caiete Silvane . 2016 . codrescu.com.
• Book: Codrescu, Andrei . Bibliodeath: My Archives (With Life in Footnotes) . ANTIBOOKCLUB . 2013 . 978-0-9838-6833-0 . codrescu.com.
• 2013: So Recently Rent a World: New and Selected Poems, translated into Swedish by Dan Shafran (Coffee House Press)^[18]
• 2011: Whatever Gets You through the Night: A Story of Sheherezade and the Arabian Entertainments (Princeton University Press,)^[19]
• 2010: The Poetry Lesson (Princeton University Press)^[20]
• 2009: The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara and Lenin Play Chess (Princeton University Press)^[21]
• 2008: Jealous Witness: New Poems (with a CD by the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars) (Coffee House Press)^[22]
• 2007: Submarinul iertat, with Ruxandra Cesereanu, Timişoara, Romania: Editura Brumar; translated by Andrei Codrescu, as The Forgiven Submarine, Black Widow Press, 2009.^[23]
• 2007: Femeia neagră a unui culcuş de hoţi, Bucharest: Editura Vinea.^[24]
• 2006: New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writing from the City, New York and Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books.^[25]
• 2006: Miracol şi catastrofă: Dialogues in Cyberspace with Robert Lazu, Timişoara, Romania: Editura Hartman.
• 2005: Instrumentul negru. Poezii, 1965-1968, (Editura Scrisul Romanesc)^[26]
• 2004: Scandal of Genius: How Salvador Dali Smuggled Baudelaire into the Science Fair (Dali Museum)^[27]
• 2004: Wakefield: a novel, New York and Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books.^[28]
• 2003: It Was Today: New Poems Minneapolis: Coffee House Press^[29]
• 2002: Casanova in Bohemia, a novel New York: The Free Press^[30]
• 2001: An Involuntary Genius in America’s Shoes (and What Happened Afterwards), Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, Re-issue of The Life & Times of an Involuntary Genius, 1976, and In America's Shoes, 1983, with new forward and coda-essay.^[31]
• 2000: The Devil Never Sleeps & Other Essays. New York: St. Martin's Press. Essays.^[32]
• 2000: Poezii alese/Selected Poetry, bi-lingual edition, English and Romanian Bucharest: Editura Paralela 45.^[33]
• 1999: A Bar in Brooklyn: Novellas & Stories, 1970-1978 Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press.^[34]
• 1999: Messiah, a novel. New York: Simon & Schuster.^[35]
• 1999: Hail Babylon! Looking for the American City at the End of the Millennium. New York: St. Martin's Press 1999, New York and London: Picador, 1999. Essays.^[36]
• 1999: Ay, Cuba! A Socio-Erotic Journey. With photographs by David Graham. New York: St. Martin's Press, New York and London: Picador. Travel/Essay.^[37]
• 1997: The Dog With the Chip in His Neck: Essays from NPR & Elsewhere. New York: St. Martin's Press, New York and London: Picador.^[38]
• 1996: Alien Candor: Selected Poems, 1970-1995, Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press.^[39]
• 1995: The Muse Is Always Half-Dressed in New Orleans. New York: St. Martin's Press. New York and London: Picador, 1996. Essays.^[40]
• 1995: The Blood Countess. New York: Simon & Schuster. New York: Dell.^[41]
• 1995: Zombification: Essays from NPR. New York: St. Martin's Press. New York and London: Picador.^[42]
• 1994: The Repentance of Lorraine, New York: Rhinoceros Books. Reprint with new introduction of 1976 Pocketbooks edition by Ames Claire)^[43]
• 1993: Belligerence, Minneapolis: Coffee House Press.^[44]
• 1993: Road Scholar: Coast to Coast Late in the Century, with photographs by David Graham. A journal of the making of the movie Road Scholar. New York: Hyperion.^[45]
• 1991: The Hole in the Flag: a Romanian Exile's Story of Return and Revolution (New York: Morrow. New York: Avon.^[46]
• 1991: Comrade Past and Mister Present, Minneapolis: Coffee House Press.^[47]
• 1990: The Disappearance of the Outside: a Manifesto for Escape. Boston: Addison-Wesley Co.1990; reissued by Ruminator Press, 2001^[48]
• 1988: A Craving for Swan, Columbus: Ohio State University Press.^[49]
• 1987: Monsieur Teste in America & Other Instances of Realism, Minneapolis: Coffee House Press.^[50]
• 1987: Raised by Puppets Only to Be Killed by Research, Boston: Addison-Wesley.^[51]
• 1983: In America’s Shoes, San Francisco: City Lights.^[52]
• 1983: Selected Poems 1970-1980, New York: Sun Books.^[53]
• 1982: Necrocorrida. San Francisco: Panjandrum Books.^[54]
• 1979: The Lady Painter, Boston: Four Zoas Press.^[55]
• 1978: For the Love of a Coat, Boston: Four Zoas Press.^[56]
• 1975: The Life & Times of an Involuntary Genius. New York: George Braziller.^[57]
• 1974: The Marriage of Insult & Injury. Woodstock: Cymric Press.^[58]
• 1973: The History of the Growth of Heaven. New York: George Braziller.^[59]
• 1973: A Serious Morning. Santa Barbara: Capra Press.^[60]
• 1971: Why I Can’t Talk on the Telephone, San Francisco: kingdom kum press.^[61]
• Book: Codrescu, Andrei . 'License to Carry a Gun' Big Table Poetry Award. Chicago: Big Table/Follet. reprinted . Carnegie-Mellon University Press . 1970 . Pittsburgh . codrescu.com.

Editor/founder

• 1983-1997 Book: Exquisite Corpse: a Journal of Books and Ideas. https://web.archive.org/web/20120628234624/http://corpse.org/index.php. June 28, 2012.
• 1997-2011, the online version

Anthologies edited

• Book: Hearn, Lafcadio . Japanese Tales of Lafcadio Hearn . 2019 . Princeton University Press . 9780691167756 . 27 June 2020.
• Book: Thus Spake the Corpse : An Exquisite Corpse Reader 1988-1998 . Black Sparrow Press . 1999 . 1574231421 . Codrescu . Andrei . 2 . Santa Barbara . Rosenthal . Laura.
• Book: Thus Spake the Corpse : An Exquisite Corpse Reader 1988-1998 . Black Sparrow Press . 1999 . 1574231014 . Codrescu . Andrei . 1 . Santa Barbara . Rosenthal . Laura.
• Book: American Poets Say Goodbye to the 20th Century . 4 Walls/8 Windows Press . 1996 . Codrescu . Andrei . New York . Rosenthal . Laura.
• Book: Codrescu, Andrei . American Poetry Since 1970: Up Late . 1988 . 4 Walls/8 Windows Press . New York . May 11, 2020 . August 13, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200813192504/https://www.carnevalemanfredonia.it/literature/poetry/127590-american-poetry-since-1970-up-late-andrei-codrescu-download-epub.html . dead .
• Book: Codrescu, Andrei . The Stiffest of the Corpse: an Exquisite Corpse Reader, 1983-1990 . August 1989 . City Lights Books . 0872862135 . San Francisco.

As translator

• Book: In Praise of Sleep: Selected Poems of Lucian Blaga . 2019 . Commonwealth Books, Black Widow . 978-0872862135 . codrescu.com.
• Book: At the Court of Yearning: Poems by Lucian Blaga . 1989 . Ohio State University Press . 0872862135 . Columbus . codrescu.com.

Presence in English Language Anthologies

• Book: Born in Utopia (An Anthology of Romanian Modern and Contemporary Poetry) . Talisman House Publishers . 2006 . 978-1584980506 . Carmen Firan . Paul Doru Mugur.
• Book: Testament - Anthology of Romanian Verse - American Edition . Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing . 2017 . 978-0-9953502-0-5 . Daniel Ioniță.
• Book: Testament - 400 Years of Romanian Poetry - 400 de ani de poezie românească . Editura Minerva . 2019 . 978-973-21-1070-6 . Daniel Ioniță.
• Book: Romanian Poetry from its Origins to the Present . Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing . 2020 . 978-0-9953502-8-1 . Daniel Ioniță.

Controversial comments

Codrescu was a commentator for NPR,^[62] and on the December 19, 1995, broadcast of All Things Considered, Codrescu reported that some Christians believe in a "rapture" and four million believers will ascend to Heaven immediately. He continued, "The evaporation of 4 million who believe this crap would leave the world an instantly better place."^[63]

NPR subsequently apologized for Codrescu's comments, saying, "Those remarks offended listeners and crossed a line of taste and tolerance that we should have defended with greater vigilance."^[64]

Further reading

• Book: Proza lui Andrei Codrescu. Spații între realitate și imaginar . Editura Tracus Arte . 2019 . Vănoagă . Cristina-Matilda . ro-RO.
• Book: Gheo, Radu Pavel . Străin în țară străină: Literatura română şi graniţa identitară în proza Hertei Müller şi a lui Andrei Codrescu . Editura Universitatii de Vest . 2017 . ro-RO . May 7, 2020 . November 1, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211101143516/https://editura.uvt.ro/?p=1901 . dead .
• Book: Strugaru, Oana . Exilul ca mod de existenţă. Andrei Codrescu în spaţiul textual al dezrădăcinări . Editura Muzeul Literaturii Romane . 2013 . ro-RO.
• Book: Lazu, Robert . Miracol si catastrofa . Hartmann . 2005 . ro-RO.

External links

• Andrei Codrescu's webpage
• Exquisite Corpse, Codrescu's online literary magazine
• "Andrei Codrescu", NPR Biography
• Video: Andrei Codrescu - "The Posthuman DADA Guide: Tzara and Lenin Play Chess", presentation in Portland, Oregon, on April 30, 2009, from the recent book tour
• Voices on Antisemitism - Interview with Andrei Codrescu from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Andrei Codrescu is a regular contributor to magazine.

Notes and References

1. News: John J. O'Connor . March 20, 1995 . Television Review; Romanian Kerouac Is Back . . 2011-01-18.
2. Web site: Scriitorul Andrei Codrescu: "Vremea României la Nobel a trecut" . October 15, 2016 . December 31, 2020 . ro.
3. News: Leydon . Joe . August 8, 1993 . Cover Story: Road Trip! : Andrei Codrescu is your basic droll Transylvanian poet and social commentator who was given a '68 Caddy and a mission: Find America and its soul . . August 7, 2014.
4. Web site: Diaspora in direct . August 7, 2014 . ro.
5. News: A Refugee Among Refugees . . September 11, 2005 . August 7, 2014. Solomon . Deborah .
6. Web site: York . Carnegie Corporation of New . Andrei Codrescu . Carnegie Corporation of New York.
7. Web site: York . Carnegie Corporation of New . Andrei Codrescu . 2020-05-11 . Carnegie Corporation of New York.
8. Web site: Andrei Codrescu . NPR.
9. News: Allene . Bruce . 1983-08-12 . Pushcart Anthology review . The Christian Science Monitor . 2018-01-22.
10. News: 2002-10-31 . My Old Haunts . Frontline World . PBS .
11. Web site: Exquisite Corpse - Journal of Letters and Life . 2020-05-11 . corpse.org.
12. Web site: LSU Libraries . lib.lsu.edu.
13. Web site: Pricop . Constantin . Interviu cu Andrei Codrescu - "Sensul diferentei a fost cu mine de cind m-am ascut" . August 7, 2014 . memoria.ro . ro.
14. Web site: Lucian Codrescu . linkedin.com.
15. Web site: Tristan Codrescu LAc - Acupuncturist - Portland, OR . CareDash .
16. Web site: Laura Rosenthal . Godine, Publisher.
17. Web site: 2010 . Andrei Codrescu . 2010 Great Immigrants Recipient . Carnegie Corporation of New York.
18. Web site: So Recently Rent a World: New and Selected Poems . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
19. Web site: Whatever Gets You through the Night: A Story of Sheherezade and the Arabian Entertainments . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
20. Web site: The Poetry Lesson . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
21. Web site: The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara and Lenin Play Chess . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
22. Web site: Jealous Witness . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
23. Web site: The Forgiven Submarine/Submarinul Iertat . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
24. Web site: Femeia neagra a unui cucus de hoti . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
25. Web site: New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writing from the City . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
26. Web site: Instrumentul Negru: Poezii 1965-1968 . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
27. Web site: Scandal of Genius: How Salvador Dali Smuggled Baudelaire into the Science Fair . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
28. Web site: Wakefield: a novel . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
29. Web site: It Was Today: New Poems . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
30. Web site: Casanova in Bohemia/Casanova in Boemia . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
31. Web site: An Involuntary Genius in America's Shoes (and What Happened Afterwards) . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
32. Web site: The Devil Never Sleeps & Other Essays . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
33. Web site: Selected Poetry/Poezii Alese . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
34. Web site: A Bar in Brooklyn: Novellas & Stories, 1970-1978 . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
35. Web site: Messiah, a novel . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
36. Web site: Hail Babylon! In Search of the American City at the End of the Millennium . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
37. Web site: Ay, Cuba! . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
38. Web site: The Dog With the Chip in His Neck: Essays from NPR & Elsewhere . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
39. Web site: Alien Candor: Selected Poems, 1970-1995 . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
40. Web site: The Muse Is Always Half-Dressed in New Orleans: and Other Essays . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
41. Web site: The Blood Countess, a novel . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
42. Web site: Zombification . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
43. Web site: The Repentance of Lorraine . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
44. Web site: Belligerence, poems . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
45. Web site: Road Scholar: Coast to Coast Late in the Century . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
46. Web site: The Hole in the Flag: a Romanian Exile's Story of Return and Revolution . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
47. Web site: Comrade Past & Mister Present . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
48. Web site: The Disappearance of the Outside: a Manifesto for Escape . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
49. Web site: A Craving for Swan . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
50. Web site: Monsieur Teste in America & Other Instances of Realism, stories . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
51. Web site: Raised by Puppets Only to Be Killed by Research . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
52. Web site: In America's Shoes . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
53. Web site: Selected Poems 1970-1980 . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
54. Web site: Necrocorrida . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
55. Web site: The Lady Painter . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
56. Web site: For the Love of a Coat . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
57. Web site: The Life & Times of an Involuntary Genius . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
58. Web site: The Marriage of Insult and Injury . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
59. Web site: The HISTORY of the GROWTH of HEAVEN . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
60. Web site: A Serious Morning . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
61. Web site: Why I Can't Talk on the Telephone . 2020-05-08 . Andrei Codrescu.
62. Web site: 2010 . Andrei Codrescu . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20101026205057/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2100359 . 2010-10-26 . 2010-10-22 . NPR.
63. News: 1995-12-23 . NPR APOLOGIZES ON AIR . Washington Post . Washington, D.C. .
64. News: NPR replies to 40,000 complaints about Codrescu broadcast . dead . 2011-04-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120320101534/http://www.current.org/people/peop601.html . 2012-03-20.