Vincent Godfrey Burns

Vincent Godfrey Burns (1893 in Brooklyn – 1979) was Poet Laureate of Maryland, from 1962 until 1979.

Life He graduated from Penn State University in 1916, Harvard University, and Union Theological Seminary in 1922. He studied at Columbia University from 1922 to 1924. He served in World War I, in the 163rd Field Artillery. He was ordained as a Congregational minister. He married Edna Rodenberger in 1924; they had one daughter.

He collaborated with his brother, Robert, on I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang. It was made into a movie in 1932, by Warner Brothers, and it was nominated for several Academy Awards. He was appointed Poet Laureate of Maryland in 1962, by Governor J. Millard Tawes. There were attempts to unseat him, but he remained Poet Laureate of Maryland until his death in 1979.

His papers are held at the University of Maryland, Maryland Historical Society, Columbia University, Syracuse University, and Kent State University.

Works The Master's Message for the New Day, Association Press, 1926 The Red Harvest, a Cry for Peace, Macmillan, 1930; Granger Books, 1976 I'm in Love with Life Dutton, 1932 Female Convict Macauley, 1932; Pyramid, 1959 America I Love You New World Books, 1957 Flame Against the Night New World Books, 1959 An American Poet Speaks New World Books, 1960 Memories and Melodies of Maryland New World Books, 1964 Maryland's Revolutionary Hero New World Books, 1965 The Four Tests of a Loyal American Patriotic Women's Clubs of America, 1966 Ballads of the Free State Bard New World Books, 1967 Songs of the Free State Bards New World Books, 1967 Heart on Fire New World Books, 1969 World on Fire New World Books, 1969 Red Fuse on a World Bomb New World Books, 1969 The Sunny Side of Life New World Books, 1970 Poetry is Fun New World Books, 1971 The Story of Old Glory New World Books, 1972 Redwood: And Other Poems, reprint Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, Vincent Godfrey Burns, Robert Elliott Burns, Out of these chains, New World Books, 1942