in 1973 from the University of Nottingham with
a dissertation on the construction of self-image
in early English romantic, symbolist and mod-
ern poetry. She returned to India and taught
from 1974 to 1979 at Delhi University, Jawaha-
rlal Nehru University (Delhi), Central Institute
of English (Hyderabad), and the University of
Hyderabad. She met and married an American
in Hyderabad and moved to the United States
in 1979. Living in New York with her husband
and two children, she currently teaches at Hunter
College and the Graduate Center of the City
University of New York. Her work includes po-
etry, fiction, autobiography, and criticism. Flu-
ent in six languages including Malayalam, Hindi,
French, Arabic, and English, Alexander has writ-
ten about her experiences as she moved between
continents.
Alexander’s poetry collections include The
Bird’s Bright Ring (1976); I Root My Name (1977);
Without Place (1977); Stone Roots (1980); House
of a Thousand Doors (1988); The Storm, a Poem in
Five Parts (1989); Night-Scene, the Garden (1991);
River and Bridge (1996); Illiterate Heart (2002);
and Raw Silk (2004). She is also the author of two
novels, NAMPALLY ROAD and Manhattan Music.
Her prose writings include THE SHOCK OF ARRIVAL:
REFLECTIONS OF POSTCOLONIAL EXPERIENCE (1996)
and FAU LT LINES: A MEMOIR (1991). She has also
written two critical studies: The Poetic Self: To-
wards a Phenomenology of Romanticism (1979)
and Women in Romanticism: Mary Wollstonecraft,
Dorothy Wordsworth and Mary Shelley (1989). In
addition to writing a one-act play, In the Middle
Earth (1977), she has recently edited a collection
of poems entitled Indian Love Poems (2005). Pub-
lished internationally, she has also been exten-
sively anthologized.
Alexander’s novel Manhattan Music is set
in Manhattan and outlines the life of Sandhya
Rosenblum, who moves to Manhattan from Hy-
derabad, India, after marrying a Jewish American,
Stephen Rosenblum. The novel follows Sandhya’s
attempts at settling into her new life as an Indian
wife of an American and her fight against feelings
of rootlessness and homelessness. Sandhya is very
nostalgic and tries her best to belong to the new
society and culture that she has adopted. Toward
the end of the novel, however, she tries to commit
suicide, only to be saved by her friend, Draupadi,
who also serves as her alter ego. Alexander plays
on the issues of exile and loss of home through the
mythical character of Draupadi. The novel has in-
teresting parallels with Alexander’s life as reflected
in her memoir, The Fault Lines.
Known as one of the most forceful South Asian
postcolonial feminists, Alexander is noted for her
strong sympathy for the plight of Indian women
as reflected in many of her works. She rebelled
against the traditions such as arranged marriage
and looked for bolder roles for women in post-
colonial India. Her feminist concerns highlight
many of her works. Her works are also marked by
a search for a homeland and a sense of belonging.
Her writing is defined by her transnational migra-
tions, and she is constantly in search of a sense of
self. She writes about clashes, both internal and ex-
ternal, and brings the postcolonial diasporic sub-
ject to the forefront. Her narrative is lyrical and
her poems are full of imagery. Postcolonial critic
Homi Bhabha writes about her book The Shock of
Arrival: “As the condition of migration and cul-
tural displacement comes to be seen as a metaphor
of our times, Meena Alexander’s poignant and
perceptive book is a welcome addition. Here, the
postcolonial condition is addressed in its variety
and its particularity: as fiction, criticism, personal
reflection. This is a compelling, subtly crafted per-
formance” (dust cover).
Focused on the issues of memory, history, di-
aspora, belonging, transnationalism, racism, fa-
naticism, language retention and identity crisis,
Alexander’s works are widely read in academia
and are increasingly included in courses taught
at universities. She has received awards from the
Arts Council of England, American Council of
Learned Societies, and National Council for Re-
search on Women. Besides working as the writer-
in-residence at Columbia University (1988) and
National University of Singapore, she has also
been a University Grants Commission fellow at
Kerala University.8 Alexander, Meena