Thursday night, Charles Simic came to the University of Massachusetts to speak in the Fine Arts Center’s University Gallery as a part of the University’s Visiting Writers Series.

Simic read from his work in the University Gallery to a mix of undergraduate students, graduate students and community members.

His most recent works include “Dark Things,” a translation of Novia Tadic’s poems, and “Monster Loves His Labyrinth: Notebooks.”

Simic has written over 30 books of poetry. He is one of two poets to receive both the Wallace Stevens and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. His work, “The World Doesn’t End,” won a Pulitzer Prize in 1990, and his book “Classic Ballroom Dances” won both the 1980 di Castagnola Award and the Harriet Monroe Poetry Award.

The author participated in a free reading sponsored by the Masters of Fine Arts Program for Poets and Writers and Juniper Initiative.

Past writers have included Dars Wier and Mary Gaitskill. Future events will include Sherman Alexie and Sam Lipsyte speaking about their works.

Born in Belgrade, which at the time was apart of Yugoslavia, Simic grew up in war-torn Europe. He immigrated to the United States in 1954 when he was 16, and lived in Chicago.

Simic received his B.A from New York University. He taught creative writing at University of New Hampshire for 25 years.

Michelle Williams can be reached at [email protected].