Poet Laureate of New Jersey

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 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. The poem was antisemitic and followed the 9/11 advance-knowledge debate that the United States knew of the attacks: "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?" Jim McGreevey asked for him to resign, but there was no provision in the law for removing the poet laureate. So, on October 17, 2002, a bill was introduced to the New Jersey Senate that eliminated the position.

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