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Author to discuss book on Detroit publisher who spurred Black Arts Movement |
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Feb 4, 2005 |
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| Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd |
Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd, professor of Africana studies at Wayne State University, will speak about her book, Wrestling With the Muse: Dudley Randall and the Broadside Press (Columbia University Press, 2003), on Monday, Feb. 7, at 3 p.m. in the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections in Carlson Library.
Boyd’s book details how Randall started the Broadside Press in Detroit in 1965 as an outlet for many new African-American poets who were unable to get published by conventional publishers. Randall’s press often provided the first widespread distribution of the works of many of these poets, and as such, the press was instrumental in the promotion of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
Randall started the press with just $12 that he took from his pay as a librarian. The press printed the poems on large-format paper, hence the name of the publishing company, and the works sold for between 30 and 50 cents. Among the more than 200 poets who were published by the press were Gwendolyn Brooks, Margaret Walker, Etheridge Knight, Nikki Giovanni and Haki R. Madhubuti. Later, the press began publishing poetry anthologies and books of essays that were critically acclaimed.
“Broadside Press has been called the most important outlet for publishing African-American poetry in the United States,” said Barbara Floyd, director of the Canaday Center. “The Canaday Center has nearly a complete run of the output of the Broadside Press in its holdings. The collection is an important source for studying the Black Arts Movement.”
Boyd’s book is described as a biographical memoir of Randall’s life and poetry, including criticism of his work and a history of the literary movement in Detroit that correlates to Randall’s life.
Boyd is a poet herself with six published books and had several broadsides published by Randall. She was also a close friend of Randall’s and worked as an assistant editor for Broadside Press. According to Boyd, her personal and professional relationship with Randall made writing his biography an interesting and sometimes difficult scholarly exercise. Her talk will focus on some of the issues presented in writing a biography of someone who is a personal acquaintance.
The free, public talk is co-sponsored by the Canaday Center and the UT English department. A reception and book signing will follow Boyd’s talk.
For more information, call the Canaday Center for Special Collections at 419.530.4480.
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