In his early childhood, during World War II, he and his family were forced to evacuate their home several times to escape indiscriminate bombing of Belgrade.

After spending a year in New York, he moved with his family to Oak Park, Illinois, where he graduated from high school.

He himself stated: "Words make love on the page like flies in the summer heat and the poet is merely the bemused spectator.

[13] Simic was selected by James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress, to be the fifteenth United States Poet Laureate, succeeding Donald Hall.

In choosing Simic as the poet laureate, Billington cited "the rather stunning and original quality of his poetry".

[15] Simic's extensive papers as well as other material about his work are held at the University of New Hampshire Library Milne Special Collections and Archives.