Meena Alexander

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Meena Alexander
US
Occupation
  • Poet
  • Author
  • Scholar
  • Essayist
  • Professor
LanguageEnglish
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationDoctorate in
PEN Open Book Award
Website
meenaalexander.commons.gc.cuny.edu

Meena Alexander (17 February 1951 – 21 November 2018) was an Indian American

Allahabad, India, and raised in India and Sudan, Alexander later lived and worked in New York City, where she was a Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center
.

Early life and education

Meena Alexander was born Mary Elizabeth Alexander on 17 February 1951 in

Allahabad, India, to George and Mary (Kuruvilla) Alexander,[1] into a Syrian Christian family[2] from Kerala, India.[3][4] Her father was a meteorologist for the Indian government and her mother was a homemaker.[1] Her paternal grandmother was in an arranged marriage by age eight to her paternal grandfather, who was a wealthy landlord.[5] Her maternal grandmother, Kunju, died before Alexander was born, and had both completed higher education and been the first woman to become a member of the legislative assembly in Tavancore State.[5] Her maternal grandfather was a theologian and social reformer who worked with Gandhi, and had been the principal of Marthoma Seminary in Kottayam; he gave Alexander a variety of books, and talked to her about serious topics such as mortality, the Buddha, and apocalypse, before he died when she was eleven years old.[5]

Alexander lived in

Allahabad and Kerala until she was five years old, when her family moved to Khartoum after her father accepted a post in the newly independent Sudan.[1][2] She continued to visit her grandparents in Kerala, was tutored at home on speaking and writing English, and finished high school in Khartoum at age 13.[5][6] Alexander recalled to Erika Duncan of World Literature Today that she began writing poetry as a child after she tried to mentally compose short stories in Malayalam but felt unable to translate them into written English; without an ability to write in Malayalam, she instead began writing her stories as poems.[5]

She enrolled in

Khartoum University at age 13, and had some poems she wrote translated into Arabic (a language she could not read)[5] and then published in a local newspaper.[7][2] At age 15, she officially changed her name from Mary Elizabeth to Meena, the name she had been called at home.[7][8] In 1969, she completed a bachelor's degree in English and French from Khartoum University.[1] She began her PhD at age 18 in England.[2] In 1970, at age 19, she had what she described as "the time-honored tradition of a young intellectual ... having a nervous breakdown", where for more than a month she lost the ability to read and retreated to the country to rest.[9][5] She completed her PhD in British Romantic literature in 1973 at age 22 from University of Nottingham.[1][10]

After completing her PhD, Alexander returned to India, and was a lecturer in the English Department at Miranda House,

University of Delhi in 1974, a lecturer in English and French at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1975, a lecturer in English at the Central Institute of English at the University of Hyderabad, from 1975 to 1977, during the National Emergency in India,[11][7] and a lecturer at the University of Hyderabad from 1977 to 1979.[12] She published her first volumes of poetry in India through the Kolkata Writers Workshop,[7] a publisher founded by P. Lal, a poet and professor of English at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata.[11] She also met David Lelyveld, a historian on sabbatical from the University of Minnesota, while they were in Hyderabad, and they married in 1979.[7][1] She then moved with her husband to New York City.[1][2] In 2009, she reflected on her move to the United States in the late 1970s, stating "There was a whole issue of racism that shocked me out of my wits. I never thought of myself as a person of color. I was normally the majority where I lived."[13]

Career

Alexander wrote poetry, prose, and scholarly works in English.[8] Ranjit Hoskote said of her poetry, "Her language drew as much on English as it did on Hindi and Malayalam – I always heard, in her poems, patterns of breath that seemed to come from sources in Gangetic India, where she spent part of her childhood, and her ancestral Malabar."[14] Alexander spoke Malayalam fluently, but her ability to read and write in Malayalam was limited.[15] She also spoke French, Sudanese Arabic and Hindi.[14] While she lived in Khartoum, she had been taught to speak and write British English;[8] in 2006, she told Ruth Maxey, "When I came to America, I found the language amazingly liberating. It was very exciting for me to hear American English, not that I can speak it well, but I think in it."[15] In her 1992 essay, "Is there an Asian American Aesthetic?", she wrote of an "aesthetic of dislocation" as one aspect of the aesthetic, and "the other is that we have all come under the sign of America. [...] Here we are part of a minority, and the vision of being 'unselved' comes into our consciousness. It is from this consciousness that I create my work of art."[16]

After moving to New York, Alexander was an assistant professor at Fordham University from 1980 until 1987, when she became an assistant professor in the English Department at Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY).[12][17] She became an associate professor in 1989, and a professor in 1992.[12] Beginning in 1990, she also became a lecturer in writing at Columbia University.[12] She was appointed Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College[18] in 1999.[12]

Some of her best known poetry collections include Illiterate Heart (2002).[1] She also wrote the collection Raw Silk (2004), which includes a set of poems that relate to the September 11 attacks and the time afterwards.[19] In her 1986 collection House of a Thousand Doors: Poems and Prose Pieces, she republished several poems from her early works and her 1980 collection Stone Roots, as well as work previously published in journals in addition to new material.[6][20] Alexander wrote two further books with poetry and prose: The Shock of Arrival: Reflections on Postcolonial Experience published in 1996,[20] and Poetics of Dislocation published in 2009.[citation needed]

Alexander also published two novels, Nampally Road (1991), which was a

Village Voice Literary Supplement Editor's Choice in 1991,[21] and Manhattan Music (1997), as well as two academic studies: The Poetic Self: Towards a Phenomenology of Romanticism (1979), based on her dissertation,[6] and Women in Romanticism: Mary Wollstonecraft, Dorothy Wordsworth and Mary Shelley (1989).[11] In 1993, Alexander published her autobiographical memoir, Fault Lines, and published an expanded second edition in 2003, with new material that addressed her previously-suppressed memories of childhood sexual abuse by her maternal grandfather and her reflections on the September 11 attacks.[22][10] She also edited Indian Love Poems (2005) and Name Me A Word: Indian Writers Reflect on Writing (2018).[23] Some of her poetry was adapted into music, including her poems "Impossible Grace"[24] and "Acqua Alta".[25] Her work was the subject of critical analysis in the book Passage to Manhattan: Critical Essays on Meena Alexander, edited by Lopamudra Basu and Cynthia Leenerts and published in 2009.[1][11]

Alexander read her poetry and spoke at a variety of literary forums, including Poetry International (London),

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York.[25]

She died in New York on 21 November 2018, at the age of 67,[28] and according to her husband, the cause was endometrial serous cancer.[1] In 2020, her poetry collection In Praise of Fragments was published, which includes some work previously published in journals or staged as performances, as well as new material.[29]

Influences

Influences on her writing include

Ngugi wa Thiong'o.[7] In 2014, she discussed the influence of John Donne, John Berryman, Emily Dickinson, and Matsuo Bashō on her work.[31]

Fellowships and residencies

During the course of her career, Alexander was a University Grants Commission Fellow at

Kerala University, Writer in Residence at the National University of Singapore, and a Frances Wayland Collegium Lecturer at Brown University.[25] She also held the Martha Walsh Pulver Residency for a poet at Yaddo.[25]
In addition:

Honors and awards

Fault Lines, her memoir,

PEN Open Book Award.[15][38] In 2002, she was awarded the Imbongi Yesizwe Poetry International Award.[12] She was the recipient of the 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award from the South Asian Literary Association for contributions to American literature.[7][36] In 2016, she received a Word Masala award from the Word Masala Foundation.[39][40]

Selected works

Poetry

Early work

Collections

Chapbooks

Poetry and essays

Novels

Memoirs

Criticism

Edited works

Prefaces and introductory notes

  • Introduction to Truth Tales: Stories by Contemporary Indian Women Writers (Feminist Press, 1990)[11]
  • Foreword to Miriam Cooke and Roshni Rustomji-Kerns (eds), Blood into Ink, Twentieth Century South Asian and Middle Eastern Women Write War (Westview Press, 1994)
  • "Bodily Inventions: A Note on the Poems", Special Issue of The Asian Pacific American Journal vol. 5 no. 1, Spring/Summer 1996
  • Preface to Cast Me Out If You Will!: Stories and Memoir Pieces by Lalithambika Antherjanam (Feminist Press, 1998)
  • Foreword to Indian Love Poems (Knopf, 2005)[25]

Appearances in poetry anthologies

Appearances in periodicals

Title Year First published Reprinted/collected
"Acqua Alta" 2008 Alexander, Meena. Quickly Changing River (TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern University Press, 2008) Kejriwal, Rohini (19 November 2017). "Five poems (or five ways) to go to the sea in November". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
"Lady Dufferin's Terrace" 2011 Alexander, Meena (5 September 2011). "Lady Dufferin's Terrace". The New Yorker. Alexander, Meena (2013). Birthplace with Buried Stones. TriQuarterly/ Northwestern University.
ISBN 978-0-8101-5239-7
.
"Experimental Geography" 2013 Alexander, Meena (16 September 2013). "Weekly Poem: 'Experimental Geography'". PBS NewsHour. Alexander, Meena (2013). Birthplace with Buried Stones. TriQuarterly/ Northwestern University.
ISBN 978-0-8101-5239-7
.
"Kochi by the sea" 2018 Alexander, Meena (12–19 February 2018). "Kochi by the sea". The New Yorker. Vol. 94, no. 1. pp. 44–45.
"Where Do You Come From?" 2018 Alexander, Meena (4 July 2018). "Where Do You Come From?". Poetry Foundation.
"Grandmother’s Garden, Section 18" 2020 Alexander, Meena (23 January 2020). "Poem: Grandmother's Garden, Section 18". The New York Times Magazine.

Critical reception

Alexander was described as "undoubtedly one of the finest poets of contemporary times" in 2015 by The Statesman.[3] About her work, Maxine Hong Kingston said: "Meena Alexander sings of countries, foreign and familiar, places where the heart and spirit live, and places for which one needs a passport and visas. Her voice guides us far away and back home. The reader sees her visions and remembers and is uplifted."[30] Of the poems in her book Atmospheric Embroidery, A. E. Stallings wrote: "Alexander's language is precise, her syntax is pellucid, and her poems address all of the senses, offering a simultaneous richness and simplicity." Vijay Seshadri wrote: "The beautiful paradox of Meena Alexander’s art has always been found in the distillation of her epic human and spiritual experience into pure and exquisite lyricism. That paradox and that lyricism are on triumphant display in this book."[68] As to the anthology she edited, Name Me A Word: Indian Writers Reflect on Writing, Simon Gikandi wrote: "Name Me A Word is an indispensable guide for readers of Indian writing, animating the powerful impulses of the country's famous writers and introducing the multiple voices that went into the making of the most important literature of our time."[69]

Critical studies of Alexander's work

Personal life

At the time of her death, Alexander was survived by her mother, her husband, their children Adam Lelyveld and Svati Lelyveld, and her sister Elizabeth Alexander.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Genzlinger, Neil (26 November 2018). "Meena Alexander, Poet Who Wrote of Dislocation, Dies at 67". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Meena Alexander: Life Events". BBC. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b "'Writing a poem is itself an act of hope' - The Statesman". The Statesman. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  4. ^ Ponzanesi, Sandra. "Alexander, Meena." In Lorna Sage, Germaine Greer, and Elaine Showalter (eds), Cambridge Guide to Women's Writings in English. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge, 1999. 10. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28 February 2010.
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  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Basu, Lopamudra (24 November 2018). "Meena Alexander (1951-2018): The poet from India who lived and wrote with sensitivity for the world". Scroll.in. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
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  10. ^ a b Shankar, Lavina (2008). "Re-Visioning Memoirs Old and New: A Conversation with Meena Alexander". Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism. 8 (2): 32–48. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d e Roy, Souradeep (9 December 2018). "A Poet at the Crossroad: Tribute to Meena Alexander". The Wire. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Meena Alexander". Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Gale. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Profile: Poet Meena Alexander". The City University of New York. Winter 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  14. ^ a b The Wire Staff (22 November 2018). "'The Angels Will Call on Me' – Meena Alexander, Indian-American Poet, Dies at 67". The Wire. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  15. ^ a b c Maxey, Ruth (Winter 2006). "An Interview with Meena Alexander". The Kenyon Review. 28 (1). Retrieved 27 September 2021.[permanent dead link]
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  17. ^ Harris, Elizabeth A. (4 June 2017). "How CUNY Became Poetry U." The New York Times. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Meena Alexander". Faculty by Field. The Graduate Center, CUNY. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
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  23. ^ Daruwalla, Keki N. (8 December 2018). "In memory of poet Meena Alexander". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  24. ^ a b "Faculty Member's Poem to Inspire Winning Composition". News. The Graduate Center, CUNY. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Meena Alexander - Biography". CUNY Academic Commons. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  26. ^ Berlatsky, Noah (12 September 2013). "Poetry Isn't as Useless as a Lot of Poets Say It Is". The Atlantic. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  27. ^ Alexander, Meena (September 2013). "What Use Is Poetry?". World Literature Today. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  28. ^ "Memory is all you have". The Indian Express. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  29. ^ Peeradina, Saleem (Spring 2020). "In Praise of Fragments by Meena Alexander". World Literature Today. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  30. ^ a b "Meena Alexander 1951–2018". Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  31. ^ a b Vanasco, Jeannie (16 July 2014). "Journeys". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  32. ^ "Meena Alexander (1951 - 2018)". Asian American Studies Program. Hunter College. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  33. ^ Handal, Nathalie (18 December 2013). "The City and the Writer: In New York City with Meena Alexander". Words Without Borders. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  34. ^ Guggenheim Foundation Fellows Archived 11 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ^ "Distinguished Professor Meena Alexander Receives Fulbright Specialists Award". Hunter College. 22 February 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  36. ^ a b Scroll Staff. "Poet, essayist Meena Alexander dies at 67". Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  37. ^ "Fault Lines: A Memoir". Kirkus Reviews. 1 February 1993. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  38. ^ a b "The Shock of Arrival: Reflections on Postcolonial Experience". Publishers Weekly. 28 June 1999. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  39. ^ Chatterjee, Debjani (14 July 2016). "Milestone for Indian diaspora poets". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  40. ^ "Meena Alexander receives Word Masala Award and reads poems in the House of Lords on 22nd June 2016". Yogesh Patel. YouTube. 24 October 2017. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
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  47. ^ Subramaniam, Arundhathi (6 May 2008). "Meena Alexander". India - Poetry International Web. Poetry International. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  48. ^ "Birthplace with Buried Stones". Publishers Weekly. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  49. ^ Bugan, Carmen (11 April 2019). "Review of Atmospheric Embroidery". Harvard Review Online. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
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  58. ^ Nanda, Aparajita. "Of a 'Voice' and 'Bodies': A Postcolonial Critique of Meena Alexander's Nampally Road". In Merete Falck Borch, Eva Rask, And Bruce Clunies Ross (eds), Bodies and Voices: the Force-Field of Representation and Discourse in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies. New York and Amsterdam: Rodopi Press, 2008. 119–125.
  59. ^ "Manhattan Music". Publishers Weekly. 1 January 1996. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  60. ^ Iyengar, Sunil (6 April 1997). "Indians in Three Worlds". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
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  65. ^ Maan, Ajit K. "Fault Lines." In Internarrative Identity. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1999. 19–38.
  66. ^ Shah, Radhika (6 January 2020). "Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Feminist Press". Literary Hub. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
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  69. ISBN 978-0300222586
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Further reading

External links

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