Poet impersonator to perform Thursday
Paul Laurence Dunbar’s work will come alive 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Charles V. Park Library Auditorium.
Scholar, actor and author Herbert Martin will mix poetry and music to perform poems from Dunbar, an African-American poet, playwright, essayist and fiction writer who died in 1906.
“If you want to see somebody who really connects with an audience through his presence, this is for you,” said English Professor Ron Primeau, Martin biographer.
Martin, a poet-in-residence at the University of Dayton, became enamored with Dunbar’s work in 1970 and in 1972 organized the first Dunbar centennial. A Dunbar look-alike, Martin has performed Dunbar on television and at many schools, clubs and libraries throughout the country. He has performed at CMU six times, the last being in the early 1990s.
“I think Martin is an important figure and has been for a long time. The way he blends theater, poetry, music and other artistic elements is amazing,” Primeau said.
The Friends of the Libraries group sponsored the event.
Thomas Moore, Libraries dean, said it’s part of the move of the library to produce programs of interest to students.
“Our goal at the library is to create an interesting environment and cultural identities that will be of interest to the students,” Moore said.
Dunbar produced 400 poems, four novels, four volumes of short stories and several plays in his life. Born in 1872, his work reflects the Jim Crow laws and segregation of the times following the Civil War.
Admission is free with a reception following in the Baber Room.
