KU News Release

Unique musical performance highlights poetry of Margaret Walker

LAWRENCE — Margaret Walker might be the “most famous person nobody knows” but the poet, whose works about African-Americans bridged the gap between the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and ’30s and the black arts movement of the 1960s, will take center stage May 3 at the University of Kansas in a unique musical collaboration not to be missed.

“Lineage: A Margaret Walker Song Cycle” begins at 2 p.m. in the Hall Center for the Humanities, featuring compositions written by Randy Klein and performed by vocalist Rosena Hill. Both Klein and Hill will travel to Lawrence from New York City for the special presentation.

The performance is the product of collaboration between Klein, a renowned pianist and composer, and Maryemma Graham, a professor of English at KU and Margaret Walker scholar.

The presentation promises to entertain audiences but also serves to increase awareness of Margaret Walker, who trained or supported several prominent intellectuals, such as novelist Richard Wright.

“I find that Walker’s connection to almost every major period of American literary history is quite submerged and needs to be teased out a lot more,” Graham said.

A visual backdrop of images of Walker will provide attendees even more opportunity to become more familiar with the poet. Madison D. Lacy, associate professor of theatre and film, created the imagery.

Klein, the composer, first began putting her poetry to song after reading her poem “Lineage” on a subway placard. He has since selected several of her poems and composed music to them.

“Margaret Walker came from a musical family,” Klein said. “You can hear the musical meter when you read her poems. These poems were crying out to be set to music and not just spoken.”

Sharing Walker’s poetry with the public through this presentation is a fitting way to honor her legacy, Graham said.

“Walker believed that poetry was not confined to academic spaces,” she said. “Thus, she spoke to public gatherings and was known for her lively performances of folk ballads, many of which she wrote herself.”

“Lineage: A Margaret Walker Song Cycle” is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jessica Beeson at eliasb@ku.edu or visit www.clas.ku.edu/outreach/clasacts.

This is the final of eight CLAS ACTS presentations this academic year. CLAS ACTS is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and co-hosted by the Commons. The goal of the series is to share the diverse wealth of the College faculty’s knowledge with the community in a manner that educates, entertains and engages the audience.

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