Retired Westfield State English Professor Curt Curtin was featured in the March 16 “Virtual Parade of Poets,” during which he shared readings from his most recent publication, Kerry Dancers (2020). Alumni and student poets also presented their work during the open-mic portion of the event, which was held via Zoom.
The early St. Patrick’s Day tribute led attendees through Curtin’s family background and experiences growing up as a first-generation Irish-American in South Boston. Among his poems he read were “Kerry Dancers,” “Kitchen Drama,” “Da,” “The Lesson,” and “Katie and the Italians.”
The cover of Curtin’s Kerry Dancers features a photo of his late mother and father, as a tribute to the difficult journey through which he is especially proud they persevered. As individuals of opposing backgrounds and religions who never wavered in terms of hard work, Curtin describes his mother and father as “two lovely people who lived out their lives together.”
“They’re gone now,” he explained, “but Kerry Dancers is a group of poems about people first of all starting from County Kerry, but also generally about the Irish. It is very reminiscent of my mother and father; how they grew up, and how the Irish managed to get by during very hard times.”
Curtin’s wife, Dee O’Connor ’76, attended the event. She admitted that while studying English at Westfield State, she discovered that writing poetry was not her strength.
“I didn’t quite have the ear,” O’Connor said. “But I did love reading poetry aloud.”
Since beginning her work two years ago as Curtin’s publicist and reader due to his legal blindness, O’Connor now cherishes the opportunity to read her husband’s poetry out loud. She has also helped to have Curtin’s own readings of his poetry recorded, which now serve as voiceovers to some of the pieces featured in the event.
English major Caitlynn Kelly ’21 serves as an intern to Curtin and O’Connor, helping with many tasks such as developing social media pages, marketing pieces, and organizing events. She also provided a reading of her poem, “Paint Me Like One of Your French Dishes,” during the event.
“I’m so grateful for this opportunity to work with Curt and Dee,” she explained.
In honor of National Poetry Month in April, Kelly is helping to organize a “Poem of the Week” that will showcase new poetry from Curtin over social media.
As for to whom he hopes his poetry could speak, Curtin believes heritage doesn’t limit his audience.
“It doesn’t matter what background you come from,” he said. “I hope these poems are helpful in letting people understand themselves.”