LARRY JAFFE is an internationally known and an award-winning writer, author, and poet. For his entire professional career, Jaffe has been using his art to promote human rights. He was the poet-in-residence at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, a featured poet in Chrysler’s Spirit in the Words poetry program, co-founder of Poets for Peace and helped spearhead the United Nations Dialogue among Civilizations through Poetry project which incorporated hundreds of readings in hundreds of cities globally using the aesthetic power of poetry to bring understanding to the world. He currently is a Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate and Poet in Residence at the Jack Kerouac House of St. Petersburg.
He has seven books of poetry; the last one is Only the Shadows Breathe (poetry noir) published by Venetian Spider Press.
Jaffe impacts audiences and readers with a rich emotional range, masterfully crafted, written from the heart and soul with clarity and understanding. His work has been translated into over a dozen different languages.
Jaffe’s recent human rights activities include workshops and seminars on artist rights, human rights, and human trafficking. Along with James Paul Wagner he is the editor for the Florida Bards poetry book series.
IRMA KURTI: What was your approach to the world of literature?
LARRY JAFFE: Somewhat ambivalent… I never really thought about it. I just write and hope my words are felt and have impact. I feel like I was always an outcast, never graduated from college, did not become a teacher or professor, am just this poet guy who loves words with a singular passion. I have toured through UK and have an Irish publisher (Salmon) for one of my books. I just want to touch folks with my words, wake up “organ” that have been asleep.
IRMA KURTI: Do you remember the first poem you wrote?
LARRY JAFFE: Yes, I do it is called the Mad Butterfly Collector!
the mad butterfly collector
stalks through
my meadowed mind
net in one hand
collecting jar in the other
WHOOSH!
thank god he missed
IRMA KURTI: You have been using your art to promote human rights. Do you think that this is also the mission of poetry?
LARRY JAFFE: I think it is the job of every artist to promote human rights no matter the genre. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one of the most precious documents we have on this planet and must be adhered to by all governments. It may not be the sole mission of poets and other artists but should be incorporated in their works and thoughts. After all, Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
IRMA KURTI: You have read your work in various locations as the Japanese American Museum, the Hammer Museum, the Museum of Tolerance. Is this a way to draw people closer to the poetry?
LARRY JAFFE: Museums are wonderful places to read poetry. The people who come to museums are very interested in art and I find they are poetry lovers as well. I am happy to read my work in coffeehouses, people’s houses, museums, schools, any place I can reach out to folks. I genuinely love people despite their foibles and love to interact with them, sometimes in verse where I get them to repeat certain lines in a poem, so it becomes an interactive experience.
IRMA KURTI: You are an editor of BeatLife Magazine. Can you tell us about this experience?
LARRY JAFFE: BeatLife is still very young, less than a year old and I am still getting my feet wet so to speak. One thing we do which I am very fond of is to get the backstory or inspiration of the poem we are featuring. I think it makes for a very interesting interaction with the artist.
IRMA KURTI: How do you describe a beautiful poem?
LARRY JAFFE: For a poem to be beautiful it must stand up and whisper, it should be relevant to life and have that certain something that compels you to read it and perhaps read it again and again. It should invite me into the artist’s universe and make me feel welcome yet at the same time a little uncomfortable with life, to awaken the restlessness in me and provide something meaningful.
IRMA KURTI: In one of your poems “Poets are the doctors of the soul”, you write: I breathe in letters and breathe out words…When did you understand that poetry was an integral part of your life?
LARRY JAFFE: I started writing when I was 8 years old for my camp newspaper. For some odd reason I called it Uncle Larry’s Nature Column and yes it was about nature. I was sports editor in high school and college and as I loved sports, I thought for sure that was my career to be a sportswriter.
And then from the heavens I met Joyce Jackson who was a poetry lover, and she turned me on to the wonderful Basho who taught me those hidden meanings of life that only haiku could identify. I found myself thinking in 17 syllable bursts and I felt enlightened that poetry was/is life, and I would write it. And so, I breathe in letters and breathe out words.
IRMA KURTI: “Only the Shadows Breathe” was published a few months ago by Venetian Spider Press. What is it about?
LARRY JAFFE: Welcome to a city where only the shadows breathe, where evil rises at the darkest edges of Los Angeles and poetry bleeds into murder. Meet Hatcher, a detective unknowingly destined to rescue the enigmatic Lady D, in a noir tale that unfolds through a poetic lens. This is no ordinary mystery, no ordinary collection of verses – it’s a genuine fusion that creates something entirely new.
Enter Hatcher – poet, private eye, and the last hope for those caught in the crosshairs of a predator who kills with artistic precision. Armed with his trusted Glock named Betsy and verses that cut like razor wire, Hatcher stalks these mean streets where “guns are fired, lives are lost, but this is not the end.”
When the mysterious Lady D glides into Hatcher’s world trailing smoke and secrets, darkness follows close behind. But this ain’t your grandfather’s detective story, and these ain’t your ordinary poems. Lawrence Jaffe has created something revolutionary – a fusion where hardboiled noir bleeds into verse, where every shadow holds a stanza, and every dark alley conceals a killer with poetry in his veins.
As #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben notes: “Like all of Larry Jaffe’s poetry, the words are tools to tell the story. He offers hope out of the morass we call life. ONLY THE SHADOWS BREATHE is a unique and heady blend of poetry and detective fiction — poetry noir if you will — and I loved it.”
IRMA KURTI: What message do you want to convey to your readers?
LARRY JAFFE: I think the most important message I would like to convey is that of hope. Over the centuries humanity has had many a struggle but in the end, we won. We have been able to overcome poverty, fascism, etc. and still come out on top. I like to convey that hope and inspire others to convey that hope.
IRMA KURTI: Do you think that Poetry and Art may contribute to unite poets all over the world. Can they also help to overcome prejudices?
LARRY JAFFE: Prejudice and bigotry, although seemingly woven into the fabric of our society, can be alleviated by a very simple thing called respect. If one were to crawl outside the box instead of segregating oneself inside it, the tool of respect would do more in a moment than all the failures of bigotry and prejudice in history combined. Below is a short piece on the subject that I recently wrote.
A SHORT PIECE ON NEGLECTING THE SPIRIT
I woke up the last couple of mornings with something niggling at me that just would not let go. I could not totally put my finger on it and frankly the thought, though persistent just kept jamming my brain like nobody’s business. We get so caught up in an everyday business that life is just going bonkers. It is like being in a civil war with ourselves and our friends. I have people who I haven’t talked to in years because our politics don’t mix. I hate politics (about as much I hate preaching), nevertheless I feel caught up in it whether I like it or not. Bottom-line, we are responsible for where we are at. Either diligently creating it or ignoring and neglecting our current situation. So, like I said, I hate the idea of preaching, yet here I am doing just that. I just feel like I have to say something.
Here’s the point of all this – we take so much for granted. When we turn the tap and expect water to pour out hot or cold. When we turn on the toaster and hope it doesn’t burn our bagel. That the guy cruising along at 75 mph on the highway doesn’t just ram into you. We just take so much for granted that we seem to forget that we created this. We are part of this majestic create and contribute to it. We create every danged moment of it.
When you put everything to the side and really look at our lives, we just might be thankful for it. How much would it take to thank the clerk for helping you out, or simply acknowledge the driver in the next lane over with a smile. I don’t want to ever take anyone or anything for granted. And no this is not the result of a near-death experience. It is more the result of a near-LIFE experience.
Personally, I like that small-town viewpoint of saying hi and hello to folks as you walk by. You would be surprised at how much good you will do. There is nothing better than acknowledging the existence of another being.
A LESSON IN ACKNOWLEDGING ANOTHER
Look them in the eyes
don’t flinch
Look away the injustice
Look away the temptation
Look away the pretense
Look away…
Brother to brother
Sister to sister
Brother to sister
Sister to brother
Acknowledge their existence
Smile
