The Poet Laureate of New Jersey position was created on October 4, 1999. Gerald Stern was appointed first New Jersey poet laureate on April 17, 2000, by Governor Christie Whitman. The second poet laureate, Amiri Baraka was dismissed after reading his poem "Somebody Blew Up America" at the September 2002 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. Some thought the poem was antisemitic and that it supported the theory the that the United States knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance (see 9/11 advance-knowledge debate), based on the following lines:
Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed
Who told 4,000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers
To stay home that day
Why did Sharon stay away?
Governor Jim McGreevey asked for Baraka to resign, but he refused, stating that the poem was intended to be critical of Israel, racism, and militarism, not of Jews. Because there was no way to legally remove a poet laureate, on October 17, 2002, a bill was introduced to the New Jersey Senate that eliminated the position entirely only three years after it was created.
Famous quotes containing the words poet laureate, poet and/or jersey:
“The momentary charge at Balaklava, in obedience to a blundering command, proving what a perfect machine the soldier is, has, properly enough, been celebrated by a poet laureate; but the steady, and for the most part successful, charge of this man, for some years, against the legions of Slavery, in obedience to an infinitely higher command, is as much more memorable than that as an intelligent and conscientious man is superior to a machine. Do you think that that will go unsung?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It is not possible, for a poet, writing in any language, to protect himself from the tragic elements in human life.... [ellipsis in source] Illness, old age, and death—subjects as ancient as humanity—these are the subjects that the poet must speak of very nearly from the first moment that he begins to speak.”
—Louise Bogan (1897–1970)
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have a grave announcement to make. Incredible as it may seem, strange beings who landed in New Jersey tonight are the vanguard of an invading army from Mars.”
—Orson Welles (1915–1984)