Poetry is Magic:
A Documentary about the
Power of Poetry in Grand Rapids

Creator, Director, Co-Producer, Scriptwriter: Christine Stephens-Krieger

Videographer, Editor, Co-Producer, Animator & Visual Designer: Justin Razmus of 616Media

Narrator: Elizabeth Sturrus

Featuring the music of Blue Nebula with Jeff Boughner, Alan Thayer, John Corrigan with Hugo Claudin 

Assistants: Toni Bal, Kimberly Bazzy, Foster aka AutoPilot, Shayna Heard Haynes, Heather Kanig, Scott Krieger, Seth Lucas, Ethan Razmus, Erin Riley, Pamela Stephens, Elizabeth Sturrus, Bob Vance, Craig Vredeveld

Filming locations:

The Garfield Park Neighborhood Association's Historic Lodge,

Aquinas College's Performing Arts Center, The DAAC, Gaia Vegetarian House Cafe, and Schuler Books on 28th Street

Including Interviews with....

Linda Balent, Diane Baum, Greg Bliss, Susan Pearl Bowman, Patricia Clark, David Cope, Greg Foster II aka AutoPilot, Linda Nemec Foster, Gleason, Eric Greinke, Amorak Huey, John Hunting, Robert John Hutton aka Robbo, Azizi Jasper, Todd Kaneko, Neil Kaufman, LS Klatt, GF Korreck, Scott Krieger, David Landrum, Shannon McMaster, Hank Meijer, Sarah Clarissa Mieras, Mursalata Muhammad, Donna Munro, Marcel Fable Price, Chris Scheil, Eric Scott Shultis, Christine Stephens-Krieger, Antonio Taylor, Ericka Thompson aka Kyd Kane, Ralph Todd, Rodney Torreson, Bob Vance,  Robert VanderMolen, Robert Vas Dias, Craig Vredeveld aka Rootboy, John Winkelman, Melissa Wray, Mike Zone, and more….

Poets In Memoriam: Miriam Pederson and Stephen Durst

Shout out to all the people who helped gather photos and all the great photographers and poets reading at poetry events, with our thanks!  Especially Jennifer Andrew, Scott Krieger, Linda and Tony Foster, Neil Kaufman, Missy Rogers, Seth Lucas, Liem Nguyen, featuring Lady Augusta Gregory, Padriac Colum, Amy Lowell, Witter Bynner, John Cowper Powys, Jessie Rittenhouse, The Scribblers, The Bards, The Twilight Tribe, and The Diatribe, Linda Balent, Christine Stephens-Krieger, Jeff Bougher, Linda Rosenthal, Hugo Claudin, John Winkelman, Al Thayer, John Corrigan, Azizi Jasper, Jack Ridl, Linda Nemec Foster, Mary Minock, Keleigh Wolf, Lisa Gundry, Neil Kaufman, Miriam Pederson, Rodney Torreson, Lauren Gordon, Kyle Flak, LS Klatt, April Bantom, Ericka “Kyd Kane” Thompson, Craig Vredeveld aka Rootboy, Barbara Helene, David Cope, Andrea Gibson, Siarra Freeman, T. Miller, Samara Woolfolk, Gleason, Foster aka AutoPilot, Marcel Fable Price, Rudy Francisco, Ebony Stewart, Britteney Black Rose Kapri, Antonio Tone Taylor, Art Schuhart, Sol, Patricia Clark, Caitlan Cowan, Kristina Pepelko, Cameron Witbeck, David Nguyen, Diane Baum, Emily Deyoung, Floria, Michael Breazeale, Stanley Smith, Rosie Accola, Shayna Heard Haynes, Renee Therriault, Schuler Books Downtown, Yellow Chair Poetry, Creston Vibes, Eden Cafe Open Mic, Drunken Retort, Creative Youth Center, Beat Books, Poetry Night at Sparrows, Scorpion Hearts, Kent Distric Library’s Teen Poetry Slam, Crockpot Poetry Open Mic, Open Mic at Della Soul Records, Poetry at Frederick Meijer Gardens, Open Mic Night at Greyline Brewing Co, Orchard House Open Mic, Twilight Tribe readings at Gaia Coffee House old and new, readings from the Contemporary Writers Series at Aquinas College, Colette Inez, Betsy Sholl, Stuart Dybek, Kurtis Lamkin, Li-Young Lee, Seamus Heaney, Sven Birkets, Marilyn Nelson, Linda Pastan, Thomas Lynch, Linda Hogan, Sherod Santos, Luis Rodriguez, Ed Hirsch, Marie Fuhrman, Broadsides by Todd Kaneko from GVSU’s Poetry Night, Joe Wilkins, Nikky Finney, Chris Haven, Maggie Smith, Pattiann Rogers, W. Todd Kaneko, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Jamal May, Kwame Dawes, Tarfia Faizullah, Jericho Brown, Matthew Olzmann, Oliver de la Paz, Tracey K. Smith, Wevee Francis, Dan Gerber, Jane Hirschfield, Ada Limón, Carl Phillips, Janine Joseph, Oliver Baez Bendorf, Camille Dungy, and more….

HUGE THANKS for support from

Hank, Liesel, and Lena Meijer, John Hunting, The Dyer-Ives Foundation Poetry Fund, The Grand Rapids Public Library and Foundation, especially Shirley Gagnon Allen, Steven Assarian, and Jennifer Andrew, The Diatribe for being our fiduciary and support team for An Oral History of Poetry in Grand Rapids, GRMiFi for being our fiduciary for this film project, with extra deep thanks to Blue Nebula for the music, and to the poets and poetry lovers of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Help us finish the project!

We’ve collected over a hundred hours of interviews, piles of ephemera, and recordings of poetry readings in various media. Getting the edit together is a lot of work and we can use your help!

We’ve started a GoFundMe to help with the myriad costs associated with the production. If you’d like to support this project with financial assistance, please consider a donation. Thank you!