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![LOTUS PRESS, INC.
P. O. Box 21607
DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48221
February 1, 1984
Dr. James A. Emanuel
340 E. 90th Street - #3B
New York, NY 10028
Dear Jim:
Congratulations! ("Oh, frabjous day, calloo, callay" or something like that!) The
winter here has been so unfriendly so far that I have been especially happy that I didn't
have to drive those forty miles. However, I was so far behind in everything concerning
the press that I still haven't begun to catch up, in spite of putting in regular office
hours at my other house, which I am in the process of setting up as an office for Lotus
Press.
So far, since my last exam, I have gotten two books to the printer, have a third book
typeset and waiting for me to paste up the pages, and a fourth book (due out in April)
almost ready to be typeset. (Somewhere down the line, I hope to get a chance to work
on some of my own poetry, but right now I can't say when.)
I understand your concern about the copyright pages papers and promise that this night, before
I go to bed, I will have the application filled out for The Broken Bowl. As I send that
in, I will also request a duplicate of Chisel in the Dark. (I know it is here somewhere--
the original, that is--but it is probably filed with correspondence of that year which I
haven't been able to go through. Getting a duplicate may be easier than trying to find
the original.)
I wish you infinite joy and freedom in your retirement--and happy writing.
Most warmly,
[signature - Naomi]
(313) 861-1280
P.S. One of my unfinished poems is tentatively entitled "Jim in Motion." I began it after
seeing you in Paris and noticing how much more vibrant you are in real life than your pictures](https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/system/resource/f/3/1/f31c42af-c8c9-4d18-8eb0-4e153d16ba6e/attachment/486f5a14f04e580033e5b1bbf43ad618.jpg)
![Comments (usable in publicity) on James A.
Emanuel’s poetry:
“In the annals of American poetry it is difficult
to conceive of a more neglected great poet than
James A. Emanuel” (Daniel E. Scheider, “The Not
So Strange Emanuel Case,” Internet essay, March
6, 2001, www. Cosmoetica.com/S1-DES1.htm, else-
where adding “for my money THE most neglected
published poet of the 20th Century.”
“Emanuel is a GREAT POET-period.” (Schneider,
same essay, p. 4)
“Un poète de premier order ....Indubitablement,
Emanuel a dèja plus d’un pied sur la terre -pro-
Mise.” (Michel Fabre, rev. of The Force and the
Reckoning in AFRAM Review, June 2001)
“I love [italics his] your work, and look forward
to reading more.” (Ltr from Henry Louis Gates, 1995)
With “a grand irony,” Emanual writes “direct-
experience poetry,” beautiful poems, but also
poems “short and violent like sort of a rifle
shot.” (“Panorama” program, France Culture Ra-
dio, 3 Sept. 1992)
“Dr. Emanuel, a pioneer in the study of black li-
terature and a critically acclaimed poet, is a
living link to past expatriates, says Princeton
University literary scholar Arnold Rampersad ....
There were no courses in African American liter-
ature when Emanuel started out .... He researched
everything from the original texts. Dr. Emanuel
managed to publish an error-free volume on [Lang-
ston] Hughes. My book had mistakes .... His didn’t.”
(Toni Y. Joseph, One Voice, 1994, pp. 144-45)
“It is high time for James A. Emanuel, one of our
finest and most adventurous poets, to receive his
due acclaim. ... to be heard round the world.”
(X.J. Kennedy, cover of The Force and the Reckoning.)
The Force and the Reckoning “is splendid and
original achievement. I know of know similar book.”
(Michel Fabre, cover of this book)
Naomi on JAZZ (ltr 19.04.2000), herein.](https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/system/resource/4/4/5/445e8d3e-1f19-48f9-9797-249dbc7d1dff/attachment/accf4d36017c7f74427f5cc6a1625b02.jpg)