This checklist, based on the collection of David C. Munn, does not attempt to identify all poetry associated with South Jersey. Some poets listed here have additional titles not described, and many other poets and poems can be linked to Southern New Jersey. This is a preliminary study, and we hope in the future to close the gaps. Anyone with additional information, and interest, is encouraged to contact the South Jersey Culture & History Center. The primary aim of this exhibition and checklist is to increase awareness of South Jersey poetry. Poets and poetry marked with an asterisk were identified after the opening of the exhibition.

Ammons, A. R.  A. R. Ammons, Selected Poems. Ed. David Lehman. N.P.: The Library of America, 2006. Two Copies.

• From 1952-61, Ammons managed this father-in-law’s glassware factory in South Jersey, headquartered in Atlantic City.

Ammons, A. R. Corson’s Inlet. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1965.

Ammons, A. R. Bosh and Flapdoodle Poems. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005.

Ankenbrand, Frank, Jr. Plum Blossom Scrolls. Audubon, NJ: The Windward Press, 1962. Contains blind ownership stamp: William L. Leap.

• An alumnus of Temple University, Ankenbrand was a teacher at the Valley Forge Military Academy and Haddonfield High School and an active member of the Vineland Historic and Antiquarian Society. During his lifetime Ankenbrand wrote over 40,000 poems and exhibited his woodcuts, collages and gouaches. Ankenbrand’s writings are currently located in the Templana Collection at Temple University Libraries.

Anthony, Thomas. Here in the Sand: A Souvenir of Poems. Np.: N.d.

• “Thomas Anthony was born in Cape May County, New Jersey 1967, and  has lived there ever since. He volunteers his time at MAC (Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts) in Victorian Cape May where he is employed as atour guide at The Emlen Physick Estate.” – from the back cover.

Ash, Sarah Leeds. Changeless Shore. Haverford, Pa.: Haverford House, 1962.

• Ash was born and raised in Atlantic City.

Audubon Poets. Best of the Audubon Poets. Wenatchee, Wa.: Red-rosebush Press, 1997.

• Various poets from Audubon, New Jersey.

Audubon Poets. The Audubon Poets Vol. II: The Journey Continues. Wenatchee, Wa.: Redrosebush Press, 2003.

* Bale, Lawren. Proto Post Modern Blues: Oldstuff & New into the 1990’s. [Narberth, Pa.]: Down ’n Out Press, 1991.

• Bale has lived in Narberth, PA since 1984, and wrote many of the poems in Proto Post Modern Blues while teaching at Rutgers, Camden. The first poem in the volume, “Zeppo 2,” was written while riding the High Speed Line, rumbling across the Ben Franklin Bridge toward Rutgers.

Better Than Gold. Ed. Clinton T. Howell. Camden; New York: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1970.  A collection of out of copyright verse collected by subject: Advice, Age, Arts, Aspiration, etc.

Bloomfield, Robert. The Poems of Robert Bloomfield, In Two Parts: Part I. The Farmer’s Boy. Part II. Rural Tales. Burlington, N.J.: Printed for David Allinson, By Stephen C. Ustick, 1803.

Bozarth, Maria Weeks. Mirrors, by the Twins, Maria and Marcia. Egg Harbor City, N. J.: Laureate Press, 1981.

Brohl, Ted. Ted Brohl’s Gargoyles and Other Muses. New York: Vantage Press, 1990.

• Brohl is from Turnersville, Washington Township, Gloucester County; he lives in Margate.

Brohl, Ted. In a Fine Frenzy Rolling. New York: Vantage Press, 1992.

Brohl, Ted. A Simple Grace. New York: Vantage Press, 1994.

Brooks, (Rev.) James E. Reflections in Verse. Camden: n.p., 1978.

• Brooks was pastor of Mt. Laurel A.M.E. Church in Yorktown, Salem County.

Burcroff, Eleanor. . . . the Sum of the Parts. N.p.: By the author, 1997.

• Burcroff lives in Cape May Courthouse.

Burnett, Gracie D. Messages about Genuine Images. New York: Vantage Press, 1986.

• Burnett was born and raised in Camden, New Jersey, where she still lives.

Campbell, Hugh H. Knock Vigorously to be Heard: Reflections of a Yoga-Trained Artist. New York: Philosophical Library, 1966.

• Campbell writes about Rancocas Creek, Mount Holly, N. J. He was a self-taught artist, though he was heavily influenced by Walter Baum and other Bucks County and Pennsylvania impressionists. He lived and painted in Mount Holly, New Jersey for much of his life, living a solitary life and selling his paintings in the Mount Holly town square (from his profile on the Grinder Fine Art website).

Capone, Richard R. Artic Circle; and Other Poems. New York: Vantage Press, 1978.

• Capone lived in Cherry Hill. His sea poems are drawn from “many summers spent boating and swimming off Jersey’s south shore.”

Carson, Hampton L. Impressions of Atlantic City. N.p: n.p., 1928.

• Carson (1852-1929), a life-long resident of Philadelphia, served as both attorney general of Pennsylvania and president of the American Bar Association during his law career. He was also president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where his papers currently reside.

Chard, John V. South Jersey Images: Poems and Paintings by John V. Chard and Daniel Chard. N.p.: Gloucester County Arts Council, 1988.  

• The Chard brothers grew up in the West End section of Woodbury; Daniel is Professor of Art at Rowan.

Chisholm, Hugh. Atlantic City Cantata. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Young, 1951.

• Chisholm (1913-1972), born in New York City and Yale educated, published several volumes of poetry, including Cantata.

Chisholm, Thomas O. Great is Thy Faithfulness, and other Song ­Lyrics and Poems. Vineland: Glendale Press, 1956.

• Chisholm was a life insurance agent in Vineland.

Connor, George Carpenter. Sand-Burrs. New York: Broadway Publishing Co., 1907.

• Connor was from Camden.

De Angeli, Marguerite. Friendship and Other Poems. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1981.

• De Angeli (1889-1987) was an author and illustrator of children’s books who lived in Collingswood.

de Courcy, Lynn H. The Good Child. Galloway, N. J.: Stillwaters Press, 1990.

• Winner of the 1989/90 Winter Poetry Competition. De Courcy is from Connecticut. The Still Waters Press is dedicated to the discovery and cultivation of significant women’s works in poetry, short fiction, and the essay.

DeRenzis, Roxanne and Emma Feix Alberts, eds. Traveled Paths: An Anthology of Prose and Poetry. Oceanville, N. J.: Kells Media Group, 1998.

• Writers from Absecon, Hammonton, Glassboro, and other South Jersey locations.

Di Pasquale, Emanuel, Frank Finale, and Sander Zulauf, editors. The Poets of New Jersey: From Colonial to Contemparary. Bay Head, NJ: Jersey Shore Publications, 2005.

Doyle, Michael J. It’s a Terrible Day . . . Thanks Be To God.

• Doyle is  a priest at Sacred Heart Church in Camden.

Doyle, Michael J. Poet of Poverty. DVD of a film by Sean Dougherty, Tana Ross, and Freke Vuijst, based on the letters of Father Michael Doyle, read by Martin Sheen. {16 April 2012}

Dunn, Stephen. Local Visitations. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003.

• Dunn, Pulitzer Prize winner, is a long-time Professor of Poetry at Stockton College.

Dunn, Stephen. The Insistence of Beauty: Poems. New York: W. W. Norton, 2004.

Dunn, Stephen. Here and Now. New York: W. W. Norton, 2011.

Ellis, Edith Young. Musings. N.p.: By the author, 1986.

• Ellis (1906-2008), curator of the John Woolman Memorial in Mount Holly for twenty-nine years, was also an artist, musician, and poet.

Evans, Edward W. The Bayberry Candle and Other Poems. N.p.: N.p., n.d.

• Judging from the poems in this collection, Evans (1882-1976) had a close connection with the Jersey Shore.

Evans, Nathaniel. Poems on Several Occasions, with some other Compositions. Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1772.

• The Reverend Nathaniel Evans (1742-67) was both an early Amer-ican poet and a clergyman. Born in Philadelphia, he was ordained minister in London and was stationed in Gloucester County as a missionary of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts.

Evans, Nathaniel. George Washington’s Copy of Poems on Several Occasions, by Nathaniel Evans, a facsimile edition. New York: Fordham University Press, 1976.

Evans, William Bacon. Sonnets, Battle-Dore, Unconventional Verse &c. Moorestown, N. J.: Percy B. Lovell Printer, 1937.

• Born in Philadelphia, Evans (1875-1964) moved with his family to Moorestown as a boy. He was a devoted Quaker, dedicated ornithologist, and a poet who spent his final years compiling the Dictionary of Quaker Biography.

Evans, William Bacon. Bird Voices, Sonnets, Battle-Dore, Unconventional Verse, &c. Moorestown, N. J.: Percy B. Lovell Printer, 1938.

Evans, William Bacon. Bird Songs in Many Weathers, Sonnets, Battle-Dore, Unconventional Verse, &c. Moorestown, N. J.: Percy B. Lovell Printer, 1940.

Farquhar, Thomas M. Songs of War and Life. Vincentown, N. J.; published by the author, 1955.

• Farquhar was a Post Master in Atison, Burlington County (1922).

Fawcett, Susan. Abandoned House. Hainesport, NJ: Silver Apples Press, 1988.

• Fawcett is a Burlington County poet.

Finch, Mary Roberts. Stars and Dust: A Collection of Poems, Paintings and Photographs. Catonsville, Md.: By the author, 1969.

• Poems about Somers Point.

Furio, C. G. The Heart Can Be Like Winter. Woodstown, NJ: c. g. furio, 1991.

• Furio lives in Pilesgrove, NJ.

Gates, Rodney. Sitting Cross-Legged Inside Your Life Won’t Help Get the Hell Out and Kiss Someone. Elmer, NJ (Salem Co): Hot Buttered Trash Publications, [1970].

Goldstein, Charles. Diverse Verse. Mt. Holly, N. J.: Holly Duplicating Center, 1981.

• Goldstein is a retired Cherry Hill electrical contractor and poet. Two business cards are paper clipped to this volume: Charles Goldstein, Poet, Writer; Charles Goldstein, Electrical Contractor.

Goldstein, Charles. Flight into Fantasy. N.p.; SeeGee Publisher, 1984.

Goldstein, Charles. Love and Reason. N.p.; Seegee Publications, 1985.

• Made possible by the Gloucester County Arts Council.

Goldstein, Charles. Embers and Ashes. Magnolia, N. J.: Evesham Printers, 1988.

Gordon, Susan Joan. The Road I Travel. Ventnor, N. J.: Ventnor Publishers, 1964.

• Gordon is a native of Ventnor.

Halscheid, Therése. Without Home Poems. Oceanville, NJ: Kells Media Group, 2001.  

• Halscheid teaches creative writing at Atlantic Cape Community College and is a visiting writer in schools through NJ State Council on the Arts. She lives in Haddonfield.

Harley, Halvor Larson. Late Harvest. Pleasantville, N. J.: Privately Printed, 1953.

• Harley belonged to the Medical Society of New Jersey; he is listed in the Honor Roll under Pleasantville in the 1918 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Hawthorn Society. Cobblestones: A Collection of Modern Writings. Oceanville, N. J.: Kells Media Group, 1997.

• A collection of local poets and prose writers from Absecon, Stockton, Hammonton, and Estell Manor, among other places.

Higman, Charles E. Stories from Around the Bay: A Collection of Poems. West Creek, N. J.: Nada Lynne Farms, 2000.

• Higman was raised on Long Beach Island. This text is dedicated to South Jersey baymen.

Houchin, Charley. Verse and Worse. N.p.: By the author, 1982.

• Proceeds from the sale of this volume supported scholarship programs of the Stratford-Lindenwold Rotary Club.

Hylton, J. Dunbar, M.D. Above the Grave of John Odenswurge, a Cosmopolite. New York: Howard Challen; Palmyra, N. J.: the author 1884.

• Hylton (1837-93), named the Farmer Poet by New Jersey newspapers, was born in the West Indies, lived in Palmyra, and wrote prolifically.

Justice, Lorene Martin. Star of the Sea: Parish Poems. [Atlantic City?]: Carroll Print Shop, 1967.

• Dedicated to the pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church in Atlantic City.

Kauffmann, Robert F. The Mask of Ollock. Bristol, Pa.: Arx Publishing, 2002.

• Kauffmann is an author and graphic artist from Cinnaminson.

Lewis, P. Mortimer, III. The Water Lily and Other Poems. Norristown, Pa.: The Norristown Press, 1929.

• Lewis was born in Ocean City, N. J.

Lippincott, Jacob M. A Collection of Selected Poems and Essays. London: Chiswick Press, 1898.

• Lippincott was born in 1824 in Woodstown; in 1838 he articled as apprentice to a Woodstown tailor. In later life he lived and wrote in Salem.

Lippincott, Jacob M. “Address to the Old Oak in Friends’ Graveyard [Salem].” [Pamphlet, N.p.: n.p., c. 1933].

Little, Geraldine Clinton. The Ballad of Loner Jim . . . the Saga of a Sniper. N.p.: By the author, 1976.

• Mount Holly. From the preface: “On March 28, 1975, Good Friday by the Christian calendar, in this small town a sniper began shooting aimlessly . . . .”

Little, Geraldine Clinton, editor.  A Reminiscence of the Land: A Collection of Historical Poems. Kanona, NJ: J & C Transcripts, 1976.

Mahoney, John J. Summer Tides and Cinnamon Thyme. Philadelphia: Dorrance & Company, 1969.

• Dr. John Mahoney teaches at Saint Augustine Preparatory School in Richland.

Mandel, Charlotte. Keeping Him Alive. Hainesport, NJ: Silver Apples Press, 1990.  

• Mandel is a New Jersey poet, editor, literature and creative writing teacher, independent scholar, and poetry manuscript consultant.

Maylin, Anne Walter. Lays of Many Hours. Philadelphia: H. Hooker, 1847.

• Maylin (1806-89) was born in London and moved with her family to Gloucester Co., New Jersey in 1817. A teacher in Salem for nearly twenty years, she contributed articles in prose and verse to various newspapers and magazines.

McCormack, William. Memories o’ Hame and Other Poems. Wildwood, NJ: Tribune Print, [1915].

• After his emigration from Scotland, McCormack appears to have lived in his entire life in Colorado and Mexico, but his book was published posthumously by his wife, with the assistance of their friend Rev. Alexander Laird, D. Litt, who was a Presbyterian minister in Holly Beach, a borough that later became part of Wildwood.

* Mead, Margaret. “Traveler’s Faith.” (May, 1925).

• Mead (1901-78) was born in Philadelphia and lived her early life in Hammonton. Her first publication was not in anthropology, for which she would become famous, but poetry. As a young woman she, Ruth Fulton Benedict, and Edward Sapir (of the Sapir Whorf hypothesis) wrote and exchanged poetry. See a brief discussion at the bottom of this Library of Congress exhibition page.

Mints, Margaret Louise. Maurice River Memories. Port Norris: By the author, 1969; 2nd ed., Oct. 1995).

• Mints lived in Port Norris.

Mitchell, Susanna Valentine. Collected Poems. Camden, NJ: Huntzinger Printing Corporation, 1966.

Moore, W. Clement. Random Rhymes and Travel Poems of the U.S.A. New Egypt, NJ: Copyright W. Clement Moore, 1955.

Moore, W. Clement. Strange Tales of Old New Jersey and Other Poems. NJ, 1956 (?).

Moore, Emma Van Sant. The Mullica. New York: Poets of America Publishing Co., 1960.

• A member of the Van Sant family that had a shipyard in Tuckerton.

Nemser, Rudolph. Mortal Beauty. Cherry Hill?: Unitarian Church in Cherry Hill, 1988.

• Nemser is a member of the Cherry Hill Unitarian Church.

Nicholson, Alfred. Lament of Heloise: and Other Poems. New York: Pageant Press, Inc., 1958.

• Nicholson (1898-1988?) was born in Moorestown. He attended the Hill School, Princeton, Oxford; he taught English at the American University in Cairo and the University of Massachusetts and Art History at the University of Illinois. His son (with the same name) became an accomplished landscape painter.

North, James. Dr. Poems on Shakespeare; Dedicated to the Fortnightly Club of Atlantic City. N.p.: n.p., 1904.

Ould-Boye. The Gay Travellaire and Other Poems. N.p: Atlantic City, 1889.

Pennypacker, James Lane. Verse and Prose of James Lane Pennypacker. Haddonfield, N. J.: The Historical Society of Haddonfield, 1936.

• Pennypacker (1855-1934) was born in Philadelphia and worked in the book publishing field. A resident of Haddonfield, he was president of the Haddonfield Historical Society, vice-president of the Haddonfield Civic Association, and member of the Board of Governors for many years.

Perkins, Nathaniel Lee. Unfettered Odes. New York: Exposition Press, 1953.

• Perkins, who attended Franklin & Marshall College, was a poet and attorney at law who made his home in Atlantic City.

* Richardson, James E. “The Bunty Shoe (New Jersey Pine Barrens).” Anthology of Magazine Verse, Contemporary 1917. Ed. William Stanley Braithwait. Boston: Small, Maynard, and Co., 1917. Pp. 49-57.

Runner, Edward J. Diversified Poetry. N.p.: for the author by Xlibris Corp., 2001.

• Runner is a retired New Jersey insurance commissioner who lives in Southampton Twp. He belongs to a poetry group that meets in Camden.

Sands, Constance. Wave Lengths. Illustrations by George Ivers. N.p.: Wee Sisters Press, 1980.

• Sands lived in Stone Harbor, where she opened the Sandpiper Galerie in 1963.

Scudder, Antoinette. Hail, New Jersey. N.p.: By the author?, 1957.

• Antoinette Quinby Scudder (1898–1958) was a painter, poet, playwright, theater manager and arts patron. Born in Newark, she attended Columbia University, the Art Student’s League of New York, and the Cape Cod School of Art. Her first career was in painting; during the 1920s, she began to have her writing published, eventually over thirty volumes of poetry and prose. Poems in this volume include “Ong’s Hat,” “Salt Water Taffy,” “Cape May Moonstones,” and others.

Senf, Mary B. Amethyst Sunset. Waldoboro, Maine: Goose River Press, 2000.

• Senf was born in Elwood, just down route 30 from Hammonton.

Shaw, James R. Salt and Pepper Earth. Audubon, N. J.: Paul Graphics, 1975.

• Shaw, who died in 2001, was Professor of Music at Rowan University for 30 years. In addition to vocal performance and poetry, he had a successful career as a painter, begun after his retirement in 1993.

Soban, Thomas E. Upon a Ball. Willingboro, NJ: TesPressCo, 1976.

Spinner, Bettye T. Whispers of Generations. Southampton, NY: The Luke Press, 1988.

• Bettye Tyson Spinner lives in Willingboro, NJ.

Stanistreet, J. W. Beginning Again and Other Poems. Hammonton, N. J.: Privately printed by J. W. Stanistreet, 1933.

• This collection of poetry was published in Hammonton.

Stedman Gallery. Visual Poetry and Walt Whitman’s Camden, October 5 – December 19, 1998. Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts.

• Catalogue of an exhibition in celebration of the 125th anniversary of Walt Whitman’s arrival in Camden. Whitman lived in Camden from 1873 until his death in 1892.

Steer, Margery Wells. The View in the Mirror: A Book of Poems. With watercolors by Alice Steer Wilson. Merchantville, N. J.: Southbound Press, 1992.

• Steer (1899-1992?) was a journalist and activist within the peace movement. She spent her final years at her daughter’s home in Merchantville.

Stockton State College. Crying Voices and Unheard Sounds. 1973. Editors Ed Price, Dan McMahon. Oracle, Fred Mench.

• At times Fred Mench, retired Professor of Latin at Stockton, is indeed oracle-like.

Stockton State College. Stockpot (Fall 1975). Ed. Peter E. Murphy.

Stockton State College. Stockpot (Spring 1976). Ed. Peter E. Murphy.

Stockton State College. Stockpot (Spring 1992). Ed. Athena Segada.

Stockton State College. Stockpot (Spring 1999). Ed. Colleen Conroy.

Tait, Elizabeth Leeds. Words . . . N.p.: By the author?, 1978.

• Tait (1906-99) was born in Centerton, and lived in Rancocas for much of her life. Descended from Quakers who settled in New Jersey in the late seventeenth century, she graduated from Temple University, and in the late 1940s helped to form the Poetry Society at the Woolman house in Mount Holly.

Taylor, Rebecca N. Songs of Hope. Boston: Sherman, French & Co., 1915. 

• Taylor is cousin of John Gill of Haddonfield, and second cousin to Ephraim T. Gill.

Taylor, Rebecca N. Earth People and Other Poems. London: Arthur H. Stockwell, Ltd., [1928].

Tomasello, Dorann and Amelia Gory. From the Same Spirit. N.p.: Dorann Tomasello and Amelia Gorry, 1994.

• Written by two members of the Erial Community Church, Sicklerville, N. J.

Virgilio, Nicholas A. Selected Haiku. Sherbrooke, Canada: Black Moss Press and Burnt Lake Press, 1988. Second Edition, augmented.

• Virgilio (1928-89) was a well-known haiku poet credited with helping to popularize this poetic form in America. Born in Camden, Virgilio served in the Navy during WWII, was a sports broadcaster and, beginning in 1963, wrote thousands of haikus over more than twenty years. His haiku “Lily” is engraved upon his Camden grave:

lily:
out of the water
out of itself

Torrieri, Peter. Seagulls in the Wind. Reisterstown, MD: P. Torrieri and Co., Inc., 1994.  

• Found inside: a donation letter to the Mays Landing branch of the Atlantic County Library. At the time of writing, Torrieri was a retired marketing communications expert living in Maryland. The poems in this book contain Jersey Shore imagery; there are photographs of the area included as well.

Ward, BJ. Landing in New Jersey with Soft Hands. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1994.

• A New Jersey native, Ward has been both a student and a teacher at Stockton College, and is now a Creative Writing professor at Warren County Community College. He has received numerous poetry and teaching awards at both the state and national level.

Williams, W. Bradford. An Old-Fashioned Garden (and Other Verse). Allentown, Pa.: The Call Press, 1925.

• Williams lived in Haddonfield.

Wilson, Bud. The Ballad of Batsto. N.p.: N.p., [1959/2000].

• Wilson wrote The Ballad of Batsto while a student at Rutgers-Camden in 1954. He was formerly a student of Jim Starkey, an archaeologist who worked on Batsto.

Wood, Esther. The Wind-Carved Tree. Manchester, Maine: Falmouth Publishing House, 1953.

• Wood (d. 1965) went to Moorestown High school and lived in Radnor, Pa.

Youmans, Rich and Frank Finale, eds. Under a Gull’s Wing: Poems and Photographs of the Jersey Shore. Harvey Cedars, N. J.: Down the Shore Publishing, 1996.

• This volume contains numerous poems about the South Jersey shore.

Zeidner, Lisa. Talking Cure. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech Press, 1982.

• Zeidner was teaching at Rutgers Camden at the date of publication.

Zeidner, Lisa. Pocket Sundial. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1988.

•  Zeidner was Associate Professor of English at Rutgers Camden at the date of publication.