Dudley Randall

In 1966, Broadside Press published Poem Counterpoem, authored by Randall with Margaret Danner, founder of Boone House, a Black cultural center in Detroit where they both read their work. In the words of R. Baxter Miller, "Perhaps the first of its kind, the volume contains ten poems each by Danner and Randall. The poems are alternated to form a kind of double commentary on the subjects they address in common. Replete with allusions to social and intellectual history, the verses stress nurture and growth. In "The Ballad of Birmingham" Randall establishes racial progress as a kind of blossoming, as he recounts the incident." Randall's next publication was Cities Burning (1968), a group of thirteen poems, in response to a riot in Detroit. Another fourteen poems appeared in Love You (1970), followed by More to Remember (1971) and After the Killing (1973).

Naomi Long Madgett writes: "His interest in Russia, apparent in his translations of poems by Aleksander Pushkin ("I Loved You Once", in After the Killing) and Konstantin Simonov ("My Native Land" and "Wait for Me" in A Litany of Friends), was heightened by a visit to the Soviet Union in 1966. His identification with Africa, enhanced by his association with poet Margaret Esse Danner from 1962 to 1964 and study in Ghana in 1970, is evident in such poems as "African Suite" (After the Killing)."

Randall received many awards throughout his career, including:

1962 and 1966: the Wayne State Tompkins Award for poetry and for poetry and fiction

1973: Kuumba Liberation Award

1975: Plaque as Distinguished Alumnus from the University of Michigan

1977: International Black Writers' Conference Award

1981: Creative Artist Award in Literature, Michigan Council for the Arts

In 1981, Randall was named Poet Laureate of the City of Detroit by Mayor Coleman Young. Randall died on August 5, 2000, aged 86, in Southfield, Michigan. In May 2001, the University of Detroit Mercy's McNichols Campus Library was designated a National Literary Landmark by the Friends of Libraries USA (now the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations) and UDM's Dudley Randall Center for Print Culture was named in his honor. The Dudley Randall Poetry Prize is awarded to a University of Detroit Mercy student each year.

On January 12, 2014, the centennial of Dudley Randall's birth was celebrated at the University of Detroit Mercy Library. Detroit Poet Laureate Naomi Long Madgett spoke about her friendship and collaborations with Randall. Poet and professor Dr. Gloria House read selections of Dudley Randall's poetry. Poet Albert M. Ward and former Dudley Randall Poetry contest winners Deonte Osayande and Lori Allan read their work.