It’s no secret that the town of Princeton — whose eponymous university celebrated its 279th birthday in October — has for years been a haven for intellectuals, academics, and its fair share of noteworthy poets and writers.
Two upcoming events hosted by the Historical Society of Princeton and the Princeton Public Library shine a spotlight on Princeton’s literary past.
On Tuesday, November 11, Eve Mandel, director of outreach and education for the Historical Society, presents “Literary Figures in Princeton.” The free, Zoom-based presentation, which runs from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., highlights a selection of influential writers who have lived or worked in Princeton.
The presentation serves as a warm-up for the “Princeton Literary Century” walking tour, led by librarians Dana Treichler and Nora Walsh on Wednesday, November 12, from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
The tour, which starts at the library, is based on a map created in 1994 by Princeton alumnus Aaron Madsen for the university’s Humanities Council. The map shows where some 60 Princeton alumni, faculty, and resident authors lived or work, with illustrations of the 23 homes and campus buildings they occupied. Those located within convenient walking distance of downtown are included on the tour.
Registration for both events is required by visiting the library’s website, www.princetonlibrary.org.
Among the famous literary names to have called Princeton home:
Kingsley Amis, Allison Road. The British poet, novelist, and critic called Princeton home during the late 1950s while he served as a visiting fellow in creative writing at the university. Amis, who lived from 1922 to 1995, was best known for his satirical novels, including his award-winning 1954 debut, “Lucky Jim.”
Thomas Mann, Stockton Street. The novelist and 1929 Nobel Laureate for literature lived in Princeton from 1938 to 1941 while in exile from his native Germany and working as a visiting lecturer at Princeton. His time in town is explored in Stanely Corngold’s books “The Mind in Exile: Thomas Mann in Princeton” (2022, Princeton University Press).
Dashiell Hammet, Cleveland Lane. The detective novelist had a brief but controversial stay in a rented home in the late 1930s. Though he was at the height of his popularity, his neighbors asked him to leave town on account of his loud parties and frequent female and drunken guests. The owner of the rented home, which was torn down and rebuilt in 1940, sued him for damages to the property following his departure.
John O’Hara, Pretty Brook Road. The novelist and New Yorker contributor moved to Princeton following World War II and remained until his death in 1970. He is buried in Princeton Cemetery with the epitaph “Better than anyone else, he told the truth about his time. He was a professional. He wrote honestly and well.”
Upton Sinclair, Ridgeview Road. The author, activist, and muckraker moved to Princeton in 1903 and lived in a tiny tent-like cabin he built himself in the woods behind a Ridgeview Road property. From that spot, he wrote the novel “Manassas” and outlined his best known work, “The Jungle.” In 1985, the New York Times published an article titled “Upton Sinclair’s Princeton Hideaway,” documenting the then-property owner’s discovery of and research into Sinclair’s dilapidated cabin.
Richard Ford, Jefferson Street. The Pulitzer Prize-winning “Independence Day” novelist, born in 1944, lived in Princeton during a stint teaching at the university in the late 1970s.
Carlos Fuentes, Moore Street. The Mexican novelist lived in Princeton while serving as a fellow in the humanities from 1979 to 1980. Princeton University Library acquired his papers, consisting of more than 125 linear feet of materials ranging from manuscripts to speeches, letters, and photographs, in 1995.
Caroline Gordon and Allen Tate, Linden Lane and Ewing Street. Gordon, the novelist and short story writer whose work focused on the American south first came to Princeton in 1939 when her then-husband, Tate, was resident poet at the university from 1939 to 1942. He also founded the university’s creative writing program. Gordon ultimately maintained a home in Princeton until 1973.
Jacques Maritain, Linden Lane. The prolific author and philosophy professor taught at Princeton from 1948 to 1952 and remained a resident until 1960. He is best known for his working interpreting the thought of Thomas Aquinas.
Hermann Broch and Erich Kahler, Evelyn Place. The Austrian emigres were friends and collaborators at the university in the 1940s. Kahler, a literary scholar and essayist is best known for such works as “The Tower and the Abyss: An Inquiry into the Transformation of Man.” Broch was a writer of modernist fiction, including “The Sleepwalkers” and “The Death of Virgil.”
John Berryman, Prospect Avenue. The poet served on the university faculty and was named Hodder Fellow in 1950
Richard P. Blackmur, McCosh Circle. Despite having no formal education beyond high school, the literary critic and poet taught English and creative writing at Princeton for 25 years.
