Charles Bukowski: The Poet Laureate of Skid Row

Charles Bukowski was born on August 16th, 1920, in the town of Andernach, Germany. Bukowski's mother was a native of Germany, while his father was an American serviceman then on duty in Europe. At the age of two, Bukowski moved with his family to Los Angeles, California, the city that would serve as his home and muse for the remainder of his life. Sadly, Bukowski's childhood was often a troubled one; his father was rarely employed, often drunk, and both verbally and physically abusive to young Charles. He would later detail his tumultuous youth in his acclaimed and bittersweet novel, Ham on Rye.

His first publication would come at the age of 24, when Story Magazine printed his short story, entitled "Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip." Another short fiction piece would follow it into print two years later. However, Bukowski would soon grow disenchanted with the world of professional publishing, and wrote virtually nothing for the next ten years. Following his near death from a bleeding ulcer in 1955, Charles returned to writing, taking up the craft of poetry. In 1957, he married poet Barbara Frye. When they divorced two years later, rumors would circulate that their differing opinions over the quality of Bukowski's work had caused much rancor between the couple, although both Frye and Bukowski strenuously denied this.

Until 1969, Charles worked as a clerk for the United States Postal Service in Los Angeles. He chafed under the monotonous postal work (chronicled in his later novel, Post Office) and continued to write poetry. He would publish his first collection of poems, It Catches My Heart in Its Hand, in 1963, followed in 1965 by A Crucifix in a Deathhand. When Bukowski was offered a one hundred dollar monthly stipend "for life" by Black Sparrow Press, he famously said: "I have one of two choices - stay in the post office and go crazy... or stay out here and play at writer and starve. I have decided to starve."

Bukowski would go on to publish over 80 books before his death, including short story collections, collections of poetry, and novels. Out of respect for their previous generosity, he published almost exclusively through Black Sparrow Press. Bukowski died of leukemia on March 9th, 1994, shortly after finishing his last novel. His funeral was administered by Buddhist monks, and his gravestone bears his motto and literary guiding light - "Don't Try."