Her poems have appeared in such journals as African American Review, American Diaspora, Beyond the Frontier, Drive, International Quarterly, The Massachusetts Review, and The Progressive.

This unique and groundbreaking anthology contains positive poems about everyday African American men written by 55 black female poets. The insightful and informative introduction explains the historical reasons for the plight of many black men today. The poems show understanding, compassion, and support.

"This exceptional anthology of poetry from 55 writers arrives at a most crucial time when the males of an entire race are in physical and spiritual jeopardy by design . . . . There are so many well-crafted pieces, startling in their clarity, that is is often difficult to affix them to their designed sections . . , . [They] rumbled through this reviewer like a springtime thunderstorm, eliciting strong responses and memories . . . . The women offer hope and solace." 

—Terri L. Jewell, (Capital Times)

"This poetry overall is both accessible and accomplished. This is a valuable collection of voices that speak with strength, positive feeling, poetic passion . . . a surprising outpouring of' tribute considering the bleakness of the history in which African-American males have struggled to claim their identity."

—Naomi S. Myrvaagnes,  (Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Book Guide)

"The reception of Adam of Ife demonstrates that African Americans are pausing to examine sexual politics and their impact on the black community. There is a growing determination to look beyond the frustration and to heal the scars caused by painful relationships. All sisters and brothers can identify the scars, but there are increasing numbers of people who believe that we can become empowered to resolve our conflicts."

— Dr. Brenda Wall, clinical psychologist, as quoted by Toni Y. Joseph in The Dallas Morning News.

     "In her new and selected Connected Islands, Naomi Long Madgett examines and celebrates the bonds of family, friendship, faith and art to show that as much as we are alone, we are together. From the lives of heroes such as Phillis Wheatley and courageous visionaries of her own acquaintance to the dialectal hymns and prayers of hard-working African Americans, Madgett portrays the 'many faces of endurance.' These are poems of clarity and a resolute grace that, like her city seagulls, seek  'sustenance in [what is] discarded' by landing on 'posts of light.' A welcome, satisfying collection from Detroit's Poet Laureate whose elegant and insightful work continues undiminished into her ninth decade."

— Terry Blackhawk

     "The poems of Naomi Long Madgett are like slivers of city life. Sirens and streetlights are balanced by blood memories and 'that universal something that makes us want to sing.'  Gathered on the front porch at twilight or kneeling at the feet of Jesus, Naomi Madgett reminds us that the poet's most potent weapons are still love and truth and thestubborn inability to look away."

— Pearl Cleage

ISBN: 0-916418-97-9

492 pages (cloth)       $35.00

Illustrated with 50 photos
 

"It is a pleasure indeed when a living legend shares with readers the path by which she arrived at that status. In Pilgrim Journey, Naomi Long Madgett invites readers to reminisce with her about the places, people, and events that have shaped her life. Having spent more than six decades creating, preserving, and perpetuating African American poetry, she is one of those rare individuals whose lives matter to a variety of people across a variety of enterprises. Pilgrim Journey allows insight into the brilliant but sensitive young girl who, through shaping in New Jersey, Missouri, Virginia, New York, and Michigan, emerged as one of the premier poets and publishers of the latter twentieth century. This recounting of Madgett's life and work is a must read for anyone interested in life stories and the shaping of Lotus Press, an institution that has been crucial to the development and perpetuation of African American poetry." -Trudier Harris, Ph.D., J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of English, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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"From the first page, Naomi Long Madgett's Pilgrim Journey immerses the reader in the family life and culture of a mostly unknown time and place in 20th century American history. Her archival genius gives us vast and thorough coverage, for example, of a middle class African American upbringing that, in spite of emotional difficulties, contradicts the deprivation that has been frequently portrayed. This' odyssey will be of great interest to poets, historians, sociologists, and the general reader interested in the heroic achievements of one woman through truly the best and worst of times." -Toi Demcotte, author of' award winning The Black Notebooks

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"In Pilgrim Journey, Naomi Long Madgett retraces encounters with love, difficult marriages, racial prejudice, class conflict within the black community, and the curious satisfactions and disappointments of being a poet. Reaching back in her family history, this autobiography illuminates how African Americans built institutions and an intellectual tradition that Madgett has diligently served as Poet Laureate of Detroit and editor of a small poetry press. As she documents the demographics of her sojourn, we gain insight into the impetus and imagination of a poet, publisher, and professor who had the courage to invent her own space in a world indifferent to poetry, hostile to African American education, and often oblivious to the marvelous intellect of a black woman."