Malaika King Albrecht is serving as the inaugural Heart of Pamlico Poet Laureate. She's the author of four poetry books. Her most recent book is The Stumble Fields (Main Street Rag 2020). She's the founding editor of Redheaded Stepchild, an online magazine that only accepts poems that have been rejected elsewhere.

Books by Malaika King Albrecht:

Other poems on the web by Malaika King Albrecht:
Two poems
"Sweat Test for Cystic Fibrosis"
"What the Trapeze Artist Trusts"
"These Are My Transgressions"
"Who Wants to Be a Guinea Pig?"
"To You Who Are Joining the Chorus"
Three poems

Malaika King Albrecht's Website.

Malaika King Albrecht on Twitter.

About The Stumble Fields:

"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 cataloguing the protocols of ghosts, documenting her own transgressions, or tenderly attending to her children, each creation is a circle of pure desire."
—Keith Flynn

"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

"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