Two poets to share work, documentary starting Thursday

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Detroit’s second poet Laureate Naomi Long Madgett and poet-scholar Melba Boyd will share their work at 11 a.m. Friday at the Clarke Historical Library.

The premier of “Star by Star,” a documentary about Madgett’s life and art, will be shown at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Charles V. Park Library.

Director David Schock and Ron Primeau, professor of English language and literature, made the film possible through interviews for another project.

While interviewing Madgett for “Jump Back Honey,” Primeau said the interview took ten times longer since Madgett’s stories were so interesting.

Madgett has always expressed an interest in young poets, Primeau said.

“I think you make a decision at some point… there are several ways to go with your career,” Primeau said.

A lunch will follow Boyd and Madgett’s reading and a question and answer session will follow the premiere of the movie at approximately 8:20 p.m.

“She made the decision years ago to advance other people besides herself,” Primeau said.

Madgett has been working and living in Detroit for 65 years. Primeau said it’s not typical of her to give readings.

Boyd is the chair of Africana Studies at Wayne State University.

“Poetry was very political and very much a performance,” Primeau said. “Performances were so musical and entertaining.”

Primeau said in the past, the theory of poetry was that people should be able to hear it, too. As a result, tapes were often packaged with books.

Schock is an independent filmmaker in Grand Haven who has a graduate degree from CMU, where he also had a public radio show, Primeau said.

Flushing senior Darla Nagel said she is writing a research paper about Madgett and hopes the question and answer forum will include information about more African American books.

“After studying her, I can see why she deserves some recognition,” Nagel said. “One person can only do so much. The fact that she worked with other writers means that what she started will continue.”