Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

In advance of the 2019 bicentennial of Walt Whitman’s birth, I assembled and designed a poetry/history/photography book that I envisioned as a timely and accessible introduction to Whitman and his inspiring poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.”

The book is designed to appeal to multiple audiences, including fans of Walt Whitman and his poetry, those interested in Brooklyn and New York City history, photographers, and local tourists. It includes Whitman’s poem alongside 25 pinhole photos of New York City ferries that I took between 2009 and 2015, as well as essays by several prominent Whitman scholars. In its design, language, imagery, and essays, “Walt Whitman’s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” emphasizes themes central to Whitman in general and “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” in particular that I believe are still relevant today.

Although my agent and I shopped the book around to a long list of publishers, many of whom shared positive views of the book, ultimately none of the publishers elected to take it on. I continue to feel the poem and book are relevant to contemporary readers and am again working to find a publisher for the book.