Books & Reviews
The poems in The Stumble Fields buzz, bristle, and hum with energy and unfurl themselves in several dimensions, knowing that the veil between this world and the next is leaky as an old rowboat. Albrecht’s talent is everywhere apparent in these elegant lines, the music reflecting both her compassion and visionary engagement with the fading Natural World that surrounds us. It is a rare thing to find a poet so committed to her craft and so conspicuously awake at the same time, whether she is cataloging the protocols of ghosts, documenting her own transgressions, or tenderly attending to her children, each creation is a circle of pure desire. ~Keith Flynn, editor of The Asheville Poetry Review, and author of Colony Collapse Disorder
Malaika King Albrecht’s The Stumble Fields moves in a fury of images as if the poet’s holding her breath to get the words out: “I can’t stop the horses from running.” Shadows and ghosts seek solid ground. Truth appears instinctively in the musical pulses of animals—the deer, red fox, rabbit. The known seeks infinitude. Waking up lets the poet ponder—“where’s the dream?” The Stumble Fields—a triumph of imagination and memory. ~Shelby Stephenson, Poet Laureate of North Carolina, 2015-2018
Malaika King Albrecht’s stunning new poetry collection, The Stumble Fields, is a slow-motion lightning strike straight to the heart. In poem after radiant poem, she allows her readers to experience along with her, the pain of profound loss; the ache and fulfillment of desire; how motherhood carves into us for all time, the names of our children; and finally, the healing grace of being grateful for what is. In this haunting and must-read collection, Malaika King Albrecht guides us across The Stumble Fields with the sure-footedness of a survivor, the tenderness of a beloved. We are safe in the hands of this master poet—her work in this fine collection, nothing short of brilliant. ~Terri Kirby Erickson, author of Becoming the Blue Heron.
Praise for What theTrapeze Artist Trusts“What the Trapeze Artist Trusts is a collection to read and read again, not just individual poems, but the whole book, because the book tells a story—a powerful story of love and loss and brokenness and healing—a passionate, moving story told through images of the sea, of shipwreck, and of the nurturing power of motherhood. ‘We are all wounded, trying / to stay awake, treading water,’Malaika King Albrecht writes. Indeed, we are.”
— Anthony S. Abbott, author of If Words Could Save Us
“Through Malaika King Albrecht's poems flow both the literal water she has lived alongside, its tides and currents rendered lovingly, and the metaphorical water that gathers up the things of this world, the way, as she says, ‘Menokin Bay can hold the image of the whole / sky and a single eagle.’ Her lines eddy, swell, and crest, leaving their images shining on the page, in the ear, waiting to be claimed by the searching imagination.”
— Kathryn Stripling Byer, former North Carolina Poet Laureate and author of Southern Fictions
What the Trapeze Artists Trusts Review
CL Bledsoe: http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/gallery.php?item=23015
Praise for Spill
“In On the Road, Jack Kerouac professes his attraction to people who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, and I have a feeling that Spill by Malaika King Albrecht would make him sit up and say Whoa...! Powerfully gritty and honest, Spill refuses to look away from life's ugliest moments -- from the floods in New Orleans to baby mice drowning in a bucket of water -- and finally lands you in Serenity Lodge in an ‘orange chair smelling of singed hair.’ But all the while a fragile stream of hope trickles unafraid toward its Source, and Malaika reminds us that ‘when tossed upside-down in the surf / unable to discern which way is up / the natural swimmer just breathes out / and follows the bubbles to the surface.’ Spill is breathtaking.”
— Robin Stratton, author of On Air and editor of Boston Literary Magazine
Spill Reviews
JoSelle Vanderhooft: http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/gallery.php?item=21161
Stephen Smith: http://www.thepilot.com/news/2011/sep/18/poetry-focuses-on-world-of-addiction/
Nancy Posey: http://wildgoosepoetryreview.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/nancy-posey-review-of-malaika-king-albrechts-spill/
Praise for Lessons in Forgetting
"Malaika King Albrecht is a master of placement. These poems take the reader through the ups and downs of dealing with Alzheimer's in such an honest, unblinking fashion that they read almost as a single heart-wrenching, joy-keeping piece. Of course, as the poems are so well-placed in relation to each other, so is the collection perfectly placed in time. As Alzheimer's becomes an every day part of the fabric of millions of Americans' lives, who among us can afford to enter that reality without the preparation this book provides. Even without such real-world relevance, however, this would be a collection worthy of great admiration. Every poem is layered with luscious imagery, notable sound texture, and cathartic emotion. These Lessons In Forgetting will not be soon forgotten by any reader."
— Scott Owens, author of Paternity and editor of Wild Goose Review
Lessons in Forgetting Reviews
Stephen Smith: http://www.thepilot.com/news/2010/jun/30/poets-book-deals-alzheimers/
JoSelle Vanderhooft :http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/gallery.php?item=12953
