Quo Vadis

Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Administration and Faculty

It is sometimes difficult to picture a professor having a life outside of the classroom, but one professor in particular has a very busy life outside of teaching at Middlesex County College. This particular professor, Gail Gaspar, is an English professor at MCC.
Gaspar began her teaching career at East Brunswick High School some 25 years ago. When Gaspar's first son was born, she began teaching part-time and became a full-time mother. While raising her son, she continued to work as a freelance journalist for a local paper. She mostly covered education and the arts. During this time, she also earned her master's in writing from William Paterson University.
"My foremost passion is poetry. Among my favorite poets are Gertrude Schnackenburg, Elizabeth Bishop, Ted Kooser and Wallace Stevens," said Gaspar. "On occasion, I do gallery-based poetry readings and lecture on the relationship between poetry and art." At the Metuchen Public Library, Gaspar will be conducting poetry writing workshops for teens this summer.
"I am thrilled that the English department faculty at MCC launched its first journal, "Middlesex: A Literary Journal" this past fall. Given its beautiful appearance and strong collection of work, I would be surprised if it has not been noticed by writers and poets beyond our campus," said Gaspar. "I very much look forward to Volume II. The enthusiasm among our contributors is high and we are kicking around ideas to further bring poetry to this campus."
Gaspar has been published in several other literary journals including the South Carolina Review, Journal of NJ Poets, and U.S. 1 Worksheets. Several months ago, "Stepping Out," one of Gaspar's poems was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize. "As a writer, I am keenly interested in epiphany, moments of change and passion-what drives, or even consumes a person. And so I write often in a narrative, or storytelling mode, chronicling the moment a young woman falls in love or an old man, say Benjamin Franklin, completes an experiment."
Gaspar credits a lot of her writing to personal experiences. "I draw inspiration from art and from my own life, of course. There is evidence of salt water and jazz in much of my work. I spent too many years underwater, diving in inlets, on wrecks and in caves, to leave the water behind," said Gaspar. "And pretty much each day I set aside time for the piano, where I bang out an Ellington or an Arlen tune. I'm not particularly gifted at music, but I love it in the way I love poetry. I try hard to infuse my readings with the dynamics and tempo changes musicians bring to their work."

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