David Simon

David Simon is an author, screenwriter and producer who draws from his background as a crime beat reporter to craft richly textured narratives that probe urban America’s most complex and poorly understood realities. Though Simon has authored a wide range of nonfiction works, both in journalism (as a Baltimore Sun reporter and freelancer) and book-length form, he is best known for his contributions to drama; he has been a screenwriter and/or producer for several critically acclaimed television series, including "Homicide: Life on the Street," "The Wire" and "Treme." With the nuance and scope of novels, Simon’s recent series have explored the constraints that poverty, corruption and broken social systems place on the lives of a compelling cast of characters, each vividly realized with complicated motives, frailties and strengths.

Over the course of its five seasons, "The Wire" presented a panoramic portrait of an American city in an era of economic decline and immersed viewers in the workings of distinct yet intricately interwoven institutions of Baltimore: the inner-city drug trade, law enforcement, the dockyards, city hall, a local newspaper and public schools. In keeping with his interest in struggling cities and the fates of their inhabitants, Simon set his project, "Treme," against the backdrop of post-Katrina New Orleans, as a community works to rebuild its neighborhood and culture. His portrayals are sometimes harshly critical, sometimes unexpectedly sympathetic, but always viewed through the lens of a hard-edged, cautiously optimistic realism. Through his nonfiction accounts and television dramas, Simon creates riveting stories that engage wide-ranging audiences and confront some of the most daunting challenges facing America’s urban centers.

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