J.T. BARBARESE

BARBARESE J.T. May 18, 1948 - March 4, 2026 J.T. Barbarese, 77, of New Brunswick, passed away on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 at home after a long battle with cancer. J.T. was born and raised in Philadelphia and became a dedicated teacher of English, first for Friends Select school in Center City, Philadelphia, then as a Creative Writing and English Literature professor at Rutgers University. He is professor emeritus of English at RutgersCamden. Poet, translator, and editor, Barbarese earned a BA at Franklin & Marshall College and a PhD at Temple University. He liked to think of himself as a formalist: his books of poetry include True Does Nothing (2018); Sweet Spot (2012); A Very Small World (2005); The Black Beach (2005) which won the Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry; New Science (1989); and Under the Blue Moon (1985). His translations include Euripides's The Children of Heracles (1999) for the Penn Greek Drama Series and After Prévert (2022), a playful twenty-first century take on Prévert's post-war poetry. Barbarese's poems, criticism, and short fiction have been published widely in magazines and journals such as Poetry, the Denver Quarterly, the Atlantic, the Journal of Modern Literature, the Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, Commonweal Magazine, the New York Daily News, the North American Review, and elsewhere. He continued to work and publish through his illness; his most recent book of literary essays is Inventions on the Brink. Barbarese lamented that he would never get to see his final book of essays published. Paycheck to Paycheck, his most deeply felt memories about growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Philadelphia, will be published posthumously in November. He loved playing the guitar and doing crossword puzzles. He will be remembered for his exceptional authenticity, curiosity, and wit. J.T. was predeceased by his parents, Joseph and Antoinette Barbarese. He is survived by his wife, Catherine de Laurentis; his children, Niccolo John Barbarese, Julianna Claire Barbarese and Joseph Thomas Barbarese; his step-daughter, Cecille de Laurentis; and his brothers, Tom Barbarese and Dan Barbarese.