Interview by Monica Pajdak Edward Martinez

NJIT’s own humanities professor Jon Curley has just released his first poetry volume this month titled New Shadows. You may know Jon Curley through his work on a film about contemporary Newark that is on display in the Newark Museum (he personally wrote the poems and recorded the poetry that accompanies the film as stated on the NJIT website).

Curley’s poetry collection, New Shadows, was published by Dos Madres Press and can be purchased in book form and accompanied by a CD audio recording of Jon Curley reciting the poems. Despite the CD being sold with the book, Curley thought there were risks with having the audio CD included well before he started narrating his poems. He does not intend for readers to interpret the poems based on how they are recited in the recording; the poems are to be interpreted by the reader’s perspective.

Modestly, Curley has also stated that he is not interested in the money and that he is only interested in getting his work out there. If enough copies are sold, Curley is looking forward to taking out more volumes of his work. When asked of how he finds time to write with his busy schedule, Curley replied, “I find especially when it gets extremely busy during the academic year that I’m actually more productive with poetry.”

The poems in New Shadows contain many varying influences and ideals that Curley possesses. Many of his poems were written while he lived in Newark; he interestingly describes himself as “a spiritual seeker from the northeast corridor of the United States of America.”

The image on the cover of the New Shadows book was inspired by one of the poems in the collection by the name of “Still Another.” The cover was a decision made by Dos Madres, while the image may stir up controversial ideas about the pro-choice/pro-life debate. Even though there were some initial fears about the cover, Curley made the decision to keep the cover believing sometimes poetry needs controversy, and is content with his decision.

When asked about the formatting of his poetry, Curley said, “For me, I don‘t usually begin with a presumed sense of how the words will arrange themselves. But then there’s either a kind of rhythm or some sort of current of activity that just recommends. I don’t think of it as arbitrary but there seems to be an internal logic that this word needs to be placed here in this space.”

Unlike some writers, Curley stated that each poem is not already mapped out in his head; they are each their own struggle. He believes that “The compositional field of the page or computer screen can have so many numerous possibilities,” and for that reason, many of his poems use the page in different ways to explore those possibilities.

The poems that are featured in New Shadows were made long before the book was released. Most came from a past effort to release a volume of his work that included some poems from New Shadows and other works. Although Curley’s first attempt at publishing his work didn’t go well, he was urged by colleagues and friends alike to get a manuscript and put together some old and new works; they are now present in New Shadows.

When asked if he had a favorite poem in the book, Curley replies with “I am very happy with them. I don’t think of them as individuals. I think of this kind of like a collective voice, and if you didn’t have those poems in that great combination there would be something lacking.” It seems that Curley may release more works in the future and wishes to release a volume of his work each year.

Edward is an Electrical Engineer and can be reached at emartinez@njitvector.com