Meena Alexander

Quick Facts

Full Name	Meena Alexander
Occupation	Author
Date Of Birth	Feb 17, 1951(1951-02-17)
Age	73
Date Of Death	2018-11-21
Birthplace	Allahabad
Country	India
Birth City	Uttar Pradesh
Horoscope	Aquarius

Meena Alexander Biography

Meena Alexander is one of the most popular and richest Author who was born on February 17, 1951 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Meena Alexander was an Indian poet and scholar. She lived from 17 February 1951 to 21 November 2018. Alexander was born in Allahabad in India and raised in India. She later moved to New York City and served as Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College.

In 2009, the University of Michigan Press published her book Poetics of Dislocation as part of their Poets on Poetry Series. Cambridge Scholars Publishing also published an anthology of scholarship titled Passage to Manhattan – Critical Essays on Meena Alexandr in 2009.

She died in New York on 21 November 2018, at the age of 67, from undisclosed causes, although according to her husband she died of endometrial serous cancer.

Of the poems in her book Atmospheric Embroidery A. E. Stallings writes: “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 writes: “The beautiful paradox of Meena Alexander’s art has always been found in the distillation of her epic human and spiritual experience into a pure and exquisite lyricism. That paradox and that lyricism are on triumphant display in this book.”

Her most well-known works include the poetry volumes Illiterate Heart (2002 and 2004) and Raw Silk (2004). Atmospheric Embroidery (2015) is her latest poetry volume. She edited the Everyman Series, Indian Love Poems, (2005) and published The Shock of Arrival, a collection of essays and poems about migration and memory: Reflections on Postcolonial experience (2006). Alexander’s autobiographical memoir Fault Lines was published in 1993. It was significantly revised in 2003 to include new material. Nampally Road (1991), which was a Village Voice Literary Supplement Editor’s Choice, and Manhattan Music (1997) were her two novels. She also published two academic studies: The Poetic Self (1979), and Women in Romanticism (1989). Publishers Weekly selected Fault Lines as one of 1993’s best books. The 2002 PEN Open Book Award went to Illiterate Heart.

Meena Alexander Net Worth

Meena Alexander is one of the richest Author from India. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Meena Alexander 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

She published her first three poetry books during the five years she spent in India: I Root My Name (1977), The Bird’s Bright Ring (1976), and Without Place (1978). She was a visiting fellow at Paris-Sorbonne University in 1979. She moved to New York City in 1979 and became an assistant Professor at Fordham University. There she remained until 1987, when she was appointed Assistant Professor at Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY). She joined the graduate faculty at the CUNY Graduate Center’s PhD program in English two years later. In 1992, she was appointed full professor of English and women’s studies. In 1999, she was named Distinguished Professor of English and taught in the PhD program at Hunter College and in the MFA program at Hunter College. She also taught poetry at Columbia University’s Writing Division over the years. Alexander published six additional volumes of poetry, two books on literary criticism, two books containing lyric essays and two novels after moving to New York. She also wrote a memoir. Alexander was married to David Lelyveld (brother of Joseph Lelyveld the journalist and author) and they had two children.

Alexander was a speaker at Poetry International (London), Struga Poetry Eveningss, Poetry Africa and Harbor Front Festival. He also spoke at Sahitya Akademi in India. She was awarded by the Fulbright Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation and Fulbright Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation as well as Arts Council England, National Endowment for the Humanities. She was a MacDowell Colony resident and held the Martha Walsh Pulver residency as a Yaddo poet. She was a Sorbonne Visiting Fellow (Paris IV), Frances Wayland Collegium lecturer at Brown University, Writer In Residence at Columbia University, University Grants Commission Fellow, Kerala University and Writer In Residence at National University of Singapore. She was a member of the Neustadt International Literature Prize Jury in 1998. She was an elector at the American Poets’ Corner in New York. The 2009 Literary Excellence Award was presented to her by the South Asian Literary Association, an organization affiliated to the Modern Languages Association. It recognizes her contributions to American literature. Meena Alexander, a National Fellow, was appointed to the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla, India, in 2014. She was the Poet in Residence at Ghetto Nuovo/ Beit Venecia during the 500th anniversary celebrations for the Jewish Ghetto. Sarra Copia Sulam inspired her poems in a cycle published in Poems for Sarra/ Poesie Per Sara (Poems By Meena Alexander Rita Dove Esther Schor Venezia: Damocle 2018, 2018).

Meena Alexander, described as “undoubtedly one of the finest poets of contemporary times” by The Statesman was born into a Syrian Christian family from Kerala, South India. She lived in Allahabad and Kerala until she was almost five when her father’s work—as a scientist for the Indian government—took the family to Khartoum in newly independent Sudan. She attended the Unity High School there and after graduating in 1964, when she was only thirteen, Alexander enrolled in Khartoum University, where she studied English and French literature. There she wrote her first poems, which were translated into Arabic and published in a local newspaper. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree Honors from Khartoum University in 1969, she moved to England and began doctoral study at the University of Nottingham. She earned a PhD in English in 1973 — at the age of 22 — with a dissertation in Romantic literature that she would later develop and publish as The Poetic Self. She then moved to India and taught at several universities, including the University of Delhi and the University of Hyderabad.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

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Who is Meena Alexander Dating?

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Facts & Trivia

Meena Ranked on the list of most popular Author. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in India. Meena Alexander celebrates birthday on February 17 of every year.

Top Facts about Meena Alexander

1. Meena Alexander was an Indian poet, scholar, and writer.
2. She was born on February 17, 1951 in Allahabad, India.
3. Alexander published over 20 books of poetry and prose.
4. Her work explored themes of identity, displacement, and migration.
5. She taught at universities including Columbia and NYU.
6. Alexander received numerous awards for her writing and teaching.
7. She passed away on November 21, 2018 in New York City.
8. Her memoir “Fault Lines” was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
9. Alexander’s work has been translated into several languages worldwide.
10. She was a feminist icon who inspired many women writers globally.

What use is poetry Meena Alexander?

In the poem “Question Time,” she is asked, “What use is poetry?” Her response: “We have poetry so we do not die of history.” For Alexander, the task of poetry is to reconcile to a violent and unjust world, to make beauty of life’s challenges, rendering it somehow survivable.

Who was Meena Alexander?

Meena Alexander, (born February 17, 1951, Allahabad, India—died November 21, 2018, New York, New York, U.S.), Indian poet and teacher whose works reflect her multicultural life in India, Sudan, and the United States.

Where do you come from by Meena Alexander?

Meena Alexander was born in Allahabad, India , and raised in India and Sudan. When she was eighteen she went to study in England. She now lives in New York City, where she is a Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.

Who wrote poetics of dislocation?

Meena Alexander

What is the use of poem?

The main function of a poem is to convey an idea or emotion in beautiful language. It paints a picture of what the poet feels about a thing, person, idea, concept, or even an object.