Illiterate Heart

Meena Alexander was born Mary Elizabeth Alexander in Allahabad, India on February 17, 1951. She received a bachelor's degree in English and French at the University of Khartoum in 1969 and a Ph.D. in English at the University of Nottingham in 1973. She taught at the University of Delhi, the University of Hyderabad, Fordham University, the City University of New York Graduate Center, and Hunter College.

She wrote numerous volumes of poetry, two novels, and a memoir entitled Fault Lines. Her collections of poetry included Stone Roots, House of a Thousand Doors, Illiterate Heart, Poetics of Dislocation, Birthplace with Buried Stones, and Atmospheric Embroidery. Her novels included Nampally Road and Manhattan Music. She died from endometrial serous cancer on November 21, 2018 at the age of 67.

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