Codrescu, Andrei (Betty Laredo, Maria Parfeni, Urmuz, pen-names) (1946– )

Romanian-born US poet and writer who emigrated to the USA in 1966. His first poetry collection, License to Carry a Gun (1970), brought him critical acclaim, and his subsequent works reveal a provocative, humorous, and surrealistic stylist. Among other editorial and journalistic positions, he was the editor of Exquisite Corpse: A Monthly Review of Books and Ideas (1983).

He was born in Sibiu, Romania, and studied at the University of Bucharest. He has taught at numerous US institutions, such as Johns Hopkins 1979–80, the University of Baltimore 1982–84, and Louisiana State University in 1984. He produced several series for National Public Radio (NPR), and has been a commentator for NPR's All Things Considered, and for Radio Free Europe. A cross-country trip he took in his 1986 Cadillac convertible resulted in a movie, Road Scholar (1993).