Melba Joyce Boyd named Michigan’s third poet laureate

Prolific Detroit poet Melba Joyce Boyd has been selected as the state’s third poet laureate by the Library of Michigan.

Boyd has published 13 books in her more than 50-year career. Nine of those are collections of her poetry, including “Death Dance of a Butterfly,” which won a Michigan Notable Book award in 2013.

The poet, who wasn’t expecting the appointment, said, “When I learned about the selection, it was the best surprise.”

When Boyd began writing in the early 1970s, she said there was “literally” no outlet for Black poets to have their work published. However, in 1972, Dudley Randall, founder of the Broadside Press in Detroit, printed one of her early poems.

Boyd would later become a colleague of Randall’s and eventually his biographer, publishing “Roses and Revolutions: The Selected Writings of Dudley Randall,” which won a Notable Book award in 2010. She also produced a documentary titled, “The Black Unicorn: Dudley Randall and the Broadside Press.” At its height, Broadside Press was considered the most prestigious publisher in the country for Black authors and poets. It was also the first press to publish the renowned poet Nikki Giovanni.

In a recent conversation with Boyd, she first talked about another poet rather than her own work. She’s updating her book “Discarded Legacy: Politics and Poetics in the Life of Frances E. W. Harper” following the recent discovery of Harper’s first book of poetry.

Harper, who was a woman for all seasons, became one of the first published Black women in the country in 1845 for her poetry collection “Forest Leaves.” She was only 20 years old. She also became a noted abolitionist, suffragist and temperance supporter.

“I will be integrating her poems in the larger discussion of her work,” Boyd said. She is also working on an essay about Harper that will be included in another book on the groundbreaking poet and novelist. Simultaneously, Boyd is writing a chapter on Black poetry presses in Detroit for a collaborative work on the history of publishing.

“Thank god I’m retired, I’m so busy with projects,” she said.

In 1969, following the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X, Boyd contributed a poem to “For Malcolm: Poems on the Life and Death of Malcolm X,” a collection of poetry published by Broadside Press in honor of the Black civil rights leader.

Boyd recently retired from her post as a distinguished professor in African American studies at Wayne State University. In her long academic career, she has taught at Ohio State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan-Flint and Wayne County Community College.

State Librarian Randy Riley said that Boyd is “a rare combination of poet, researcher and teacher. Dr. Boyd’s poetry goes beyond just creative writing; it wraps you with the experience of Michiganders and often elevates voices of the past through a combination of history and verse.”

Michigan’s first official poet laureate was Edgar Guest, who was known for writing a poem a day for the Detroit Free Press. His daily verse became so popular that it was syndicated in more than 300 newspapers. He served as the poet laureate from 1952 until his death in 1959. Several collections of his poetry, including “A Heap O’ Livin’,” which has sold more than 1 million copies, were published between 1916 and 1959.

The position of poet laureate wasn’t reinstituted until 2023, when Nandi Comer took the reins. Interestingly, poet Will Carleton, known for his emotional poem “Over the Hill to the Poor-House,” was informally called Michigan’s poet laureate in the early 20th century. Carleton was the publisher of a phenomenally successful literary magazine, aptly titled Will Carleton’s Magazine. At one time, a state law named Oct. 21 Will Carleton Day, and teachers were required to teach his poetry in school.