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Nick Virgilio Haiku Association, with 20+ years of experience, operates the Writers House in Waterfront South. NVHA is a non-profit organization that celebates poetry and its impact on communities. Based in Camden, NJ, we offer workshops, readings, and writing sessions for all ages, fostering creativity and education.
While honoring Nick Virgilio’s legacy and inspiring lives through the art of poetry.
Our mission is to foster the creative and spiritual practice of haiku and poetry for everyone, especially youth, to enhance literacy, deepen appreciation of nature and human experience, and build connected communities. We also aim to advance the legacy of Nick Virgilio, Camden’s esteemed poet, through collaborations with academic, civic, and cultural institutions.
Nick Virgilio reading his poetry.
Founded in 1989, the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association (NVHA) aims to inspire and support the writing of haiku poetry, especially among young people, and to honor the legacy of Camden’s own Nick Virgilio. Over the past decades, the NVHA has:
See a haiku writing session and poetry workshops designed for children. We offer workshops customized for elementary, middle school and high school. These engaging teaching events inspire creativity and enhance literacy through the art of short-form poetry.
Robin Palley is a haiku poet and served as Senior Vice President, Healthcare Consulting, at Epsilon, a Publicis Groupe company.
Warren is a poet, technologist, and educator from North Philadelphia. His second poetry collection, Bird/Diz [an erased history of bebop] was published by Bunny Presse in 2022. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop.
Geoffrey Sill is an Emeritus Professor of English at the Camden Campus of Rutgers University, where he taught for (40) years British and American literature for forty years.
Vanessa Woods is a fierce advocate, compassionate healer, and innovative leader in the mental health landscape.
“Interstellar Storyteller” Reet Starwind is a Camden region organizer, educator, and creative director.
Henry Brann has been a member of the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association since its inception. He’s published two chapbooks of his poems.
Kevin C. Shelly is a writer and retired journalist. He wrote the book Lynne Bogue Hunt: A Sporting Life, reviewed by Field & Stream as a “must-have.”
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Journalism from Rutgers University, a Master’s of Arts degree in Business Administration from Eastern University, and a Master’s of Arts in Writing from Rowan University.
Bonnie Squires is president of Squires Consulting, a woman-owned communications company.
Tazuo Basho Yamaguchi is an internationally recognized, published haiku poet, educator, filmmaker, and multidisciplinary artist. He serves as an official Gyoji for the NVHA Sponsored Haiku Dojo.
Faryn Kushner’s life and creative pursuits have been interwoven from the beginning. From her time in art school, to supporting others as a patron of the arts, she’s had a long-time appreciation for artistic expression.
Dr. Adam Henze is a researcher, educator, and spoken word artist, and has shared his work in over 30 states. Adam is the Director of Literacy Programming at Flanner House and is the Director of Power of a Sentence, a creative writing program in Indiana prisons. He received his PhD in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education from Indiana University. Adam and his wife own Indy Type Shop, a hybrid typewriter repair shop, antiquarian bookstore, and event space.
Camille handles social media and communications for NVHA. As a freelance writer, she enjoys writing on current trends for beauty and lifestyle brand NaturallyCurly, and writing features on prominent young scholars for ASSIST, a non-profit student exchange organization.
Born and raised in the city of Camden, Nasar Rider is a Web Design specialist responsible for managing The Nick Virgilio Website as well as keeping many of The Writers House programs flowing. A young talent with an extreme love for community art, whether through his young endeavors as a mural artist in Philadelphia.
Juwan was born and raised in the city of Camden. He studied Criminal Justice at Rutgers University. A master of aesthetics, he loves to study music and film from the early 1900s. You can always find him spinning vinyl on his 1915 Victrola. Thee Sinseers, Sade, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway.
Sean Lynch is a writer and editor who lives in Philadelphia. His fifth poetry collection, Halo Nest: Poems on Grief is now available from Alien Buddha Press. Previous books are, the city of your mind (Whirlwind Press, 2013), Broad Street Line (Moonstone Press, 2016), 100 Haiku (Moonstone Press, 2017), and On Violence (Radical Paper Press, 2019).
Nycir Keen is a Philadelphia-based poet with roots in competitive slam poetry. An active performer and spoken word artist, Nycir Keen has been a member of the Collective Mic since 2017 and is a frequent poet for the Gullah Traveling Theater in Beaufort, SC as well as being a student performer for the Land and Body program hosted by Power Street Theater.
(And ever in our hearts, and in loving memory – Nick’s brother Tony Virgilio and Father Michael Doyle who together inspired the creation of The Writers House)
Monsignor Michael J. Doyle, former pastor of Sacred Heart Church, needs little introduction. Irish born, Fr. Doyle briefly taught in Absecon but ministered almost exclusively to the city of Camden. Friends, supporters and associates include late peace activist the Rev.
Robin Palley is a haiku poet and Senior Vice President, Healthcare Consulting, at Epsilon, a Publicis Groupe company.
Bonnie Squires is president of Squires Consulting, a woman-owned communications and fundraising firm.
Henry Brann has been a member of the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association since its inception.
Erin O’Neill is the Assistant Director of Communications for Rowan University’s Division of Information.
The Nick Virgilio Writers House is dedicated to fostering an accessible and inclusive creative space in Camden’s Waterfront South District. Whenever possible, we host our poetry readings and events in our garden, weather permitting, to provide a pleasant experience. We are committed to ensuring a safe and healthy environment for all our guests. Our first floor meets ADA compliance, with full wheelchair accessibility. Our second and third floors are accessed by stairs. We are seeking a grant to enhance accessibility to these upper floors in the future.
The Nick Virgilio Writers House features a wheelchair-accessible ramp and restrooms on the first floor.
Assistive listening systems are available upon request.
Closed captioning is provided for our Zoom meetings and YouTube videos.
Large print versions of our books can be ordered through print-on-demand services.
Sign language interpretation is available at our poetry readings with prior notice.
Part of the mission of the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association is the preservation of Nick Virgilio’s legacy. When Nick died in 1989, the NVHA was created to memorialize him as one of the first, and one of the best, writers of American haiku poetry and to give readers new ways to access the full range of Nick’s poems, in both published and unpublished formats.
In 2020, the NVHA published an article on Nick Virgilio’s legacy in the database of The Haiku Foundation, Haikupedia.org. The article discusses Nick’s early days, his life in haiku, and the vast trove of unpublished poems he left at his death. This archive, approximately 8,750 typed pages, each page containing from one to 10 poems, is housed in the Special Collections department of Robeson Library at Rutgers University-Camden.
Through a collaboration between NVHA and Robeson Library, the archive has been digitized and made available, free of charge, to the public. Using this digital collection, writers, teachers, and students who search the database will be able to compare Nick’s published poems with over 20,000 early drafts and fragments of poems to see how Nick wrote his haiku and polished them over time. (Click on “Nick Virgilio Haiku Archive: Home” to start your search).
Another way the NVHA is working to preserve and extend Nick’s legacy is by collecting and editing all of his published haiku and letters with other poets of the day. Nick published some 800 haiku in his lifetime, most of them in limited-circulation magazines like American Haiku, Modern Haiku, and Frogpond. Many of these magazines are now out of print, available only in special collections of libraries. With the assistance of The Haiku Foundation, the NVHA has published a collection of all of Nick’s published works, along with the place and date of their first publication. Collected Haiku is available in our bookstore.
Monsignor Michael J. Doyle, former pastor of Sacred Heart Church, needs little introduction. Irish born, Fr. Doyle briefly taught in Absecon but ministered almost exclusively to the city of Camden. Friends, supporters and associates include late peace activist the Rev.
Daniel Berrigan, Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Corrigan, housing activist Sister Peg Hynes, farmworker activist Cesar Chevez and most notable to NVHA, haiku poet and Camden native Nick Virgilio. Narrated by Martin Sheen, a recent documentary called “Poet of Poverty” focused on Doyle’s poetry and his monthly letter to his congregation. His writing was collected as a book titled, “It’s a Terrible Day, Thanks be to God.” Fr. Doyle was a master tailor of words, a tireless fighter for social justice and peace, nd brought a plethora of inspiration, support, creativity and knowledge to NVHA.
Alfred taught English to junior and senior high school students in New Jersey and Massachusetts prior to working for the municipal government of the City of Camden, New Jersey. He began working with the City of Camden Department of Planning & Development, Division of Housing Services, as a Cost Estimator for Property Improvement in 1984.
He spent the next thirty-eight years working in both the Division of Housing Services, and the Finance Department Bureau of Grants Management, helping the City administer state and federally funded affordable housing projects in Camden.
Alfred spent ten years working with the Bureau of Grants Management, where he reviewed and evaluated grant applications and proposals for funding from non-profit and for- profit housing developers. These agencies included St. Joseph’s Carpenter Society, Heart of Camden, Camden County OEO, Habitat for Humanity,
Camden Lutheran Housing, RPM Development and others. He also worked with social service agencies such as Dooley House, Respond Inc., Sikora House, Center for Family Services, and Volunteers of America, that applied for grant funding.
He also played a significant role in the planning and implementation of the Annual Consolidated Plan grant application submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development each year. The Bureau holds an annual grant funding seminar along with public meetings and technical assistance sessions concerning the C-Plan.
Working for the City of Camden Division of Housing Services Alfred also served as the coordinator of the federal funded HOPWA housing Program for 14 years.
HOPWA funds provided safe, affordable, secure, housing for persons with HIV/AIDS, by issuing housing vouchers to their participants. He managed the delivery of services to 80-90 clients a year, covering Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties.
During his time working for the City of Camden Mr. Dansbury was a member of the CPAC Homeless Network Planning Committee, the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Advisory Committee and United Neighbors of Whitman Park.
Outside of his work with the City of Camden, Alfred worked as an Adjunct Instructor of Reading Skills and Writing Skills at Camden County College, teaching at both the Camden and Blackwood campuses. In 2022 Alfred published,
“The Strength of Courage” a novel he embarked on as a graduate student in Rowan University’s M.A. in Writing program in 2014-2018.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Journalism from Rutgers University, a Master’s of Arts degree in Business Administration from Eastern University, a Master’s of Arts in Education from Eastern Michigan University and a Master’s of Arts in Writing from Rowan University.
