By Michelle Hines, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 6-8-09
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The University Libraries have acquired the papers of prolific inspirational poet Roy Z. Kemp.
Kemp, a Cornelius native, published more than 3,000 poems in his lifetime. His poems inspired readers of spiritual magazines like Ideals for decades. He is perhaps best remembered for his message that “There is no better or more blessed bondage than to be a prisoner of hope.”
The Kemp collection, donated by his family, represents 18 linear feet of papers. The collection includes letters documenting his publication history and correspondence with spiritual magazines as well as his personal correspondence while he served in World War II.
Kemp’s poems, published and unpublished; book reviews; and feature articles he wrote for newspapers in North Carolina and Maryland are also part of the collection.A selection of his papers is on display in the Hodges Reading Room at Jackson Library through June 30.
Once the collection is catalogued and preserved, it will be available for public use.
Kemp, born in Cornelius in 1910, died in 1980. He served with the U.S. Air Force in Europe during the war. He worked for the U.S. Social Security Administration from 1939-1969. Although Kemp was a longtime Baltimore resident, he returned to Greensboro when he retired.
For more information on the Roy Z. Kemp collection, contact University Archives at (336) 334-4045.
