Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski, born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, was a German-born American author who is considered one of the most intriguing poets of his generation. He was born in Andernach, Germany, and at the age of three, he moved with his family to the United States, growing up in Los Angeles. Bukowski's writing was greatly influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambiance of his hometown, and it is marked by an emphasis on the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work.

Bukowski's career as a writer was marked by a tumultuous journey. After attending Los Angeles City College from 1939 to 1941, he moved to New York City to become a writer. However, his lack of publishing success at this time caused him to give up writing in 1946 and spurred a ten-year stint of heavy drinking. He worked a wide range of jobs to support his writing, including dishwasher, truck driver, and loader, mail carrier, guard, gas station attendant, stock boy, warehouse worker, shipping clerk, post office clerk, parking lot attendant, Red Cross orderly, and elevator operator. He also worked in a dog biscuit factory, a slaughterhouse, a cake and cookie factory, and he hung posters in New York City subways.

Bukowski resumed writing in 1956, after developing a bleeding ulcer. He published his first book of poetry in 1959 and went on to publish more than forty-five books of poetry and prose. Some of his most notable works include Pulp (1994), Screams from the Balcony (1993), and The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992). Bukowski's writing has had a significant impact on contemporary literature, and he is considered one of America's best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose, as well as one of its most influential and imitated poets. He died of leukemia in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994, at the age of seventy-three.