Category: GEMS

GEMS, HBW, Uncategorized

Figures of History: Louise Meriweather

[ By Ashley Simmons ] Since the beginning of her career, Louise Meriwether demonstrated that writers have a responsibility to something outside of themselves and their writing. Meriwether made it her personal mission to write about the Black experience both as she saw it growing up and also as a way to remind American people of the impact Black people have had on the history […]

GEMS, HBW, Obituaries, Uncategorized

In Memoriam: Naomi Long Madgett

[ By: Morgan McComb ] “If I can help somebody as I pass along”: Remembering the Life and Work of Naomi Long Madgett On November 4, 2020, we lost Detroit Poet Laureate, Lotus Press founder, and lifelong educator, Naomi Long Madgett. With a career that spanned over five decades, Madgett’s work was dynamic and unencumbered by critical expectations—especially critical expectations of Black writers. She published […]

GEMS

AN HBW GEM: Naomi Long Madgett

In 2017, HBW staff member Morgan McComb [2017-2019] spent extensive time with acclaimed poet, editor and educator Naomi Long-Madgett for our GEMS project. Created in 2013, GEMS is an initiative created to bring increased awareness to important but often lesser-known Black writers and their work. McComb traveled to Southfield, Michigan, to interview Madgett. That interview became the basis of a video tribute to Madgett, which is available here. […]