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InPrint’s Margarett Root Brown Reading Series: Edward Hirsch and Charles Simic

The JCC plays host to two familiar faces

A A A Comments By Olivia Flores Alvarez Thursday, Mar 26 2009

Even without the National Book Critics Award or his current gig as president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Edward Hirsch would be a familiar face to Houston’s writing community — he was a faculty member of the UH Creative Writing Program for several years during the 1980s. At today’s edition of InPrint’s Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, Hirsch will be reading from his latest release, Special Orders, a collection of autobiographical poems starting with his immigrant grandfather and ending with his teenaged, very American son. There is always a tinge of sadness to Hirsch’s work, which sometimes masks his ever present sense of hope: “I’m now more than halfway to the grave / but I’m not half the man I meant to become.” Hirsch will appear with the equally recognizable Charles Simic. The author of more than 60 books, including A Wedding in Helland Hotel Insomnia, Simic became a U.S. Poet Laureate despite the fact that he didn’t learn English until he was 15. 7:30 p.m. Jewish Community Center, 5601 South Braeswood. For information, call 713-521-2026 or visit www.inprinthouston.org. Free to $5.