"Alexander's language is precise, her syntax is pellucid, and her poems address all of the senses, offering a simultaneous richness and simplicity."—A. E. Stallings, author of Olives: Poems
"Oscillating among familiar forms, Alexander cultivates a tension between form and content as her philosophical interventions frequently transcend the neat and seemingly legible structures they inhabit... Alexander’s collection succeeds most in charged moments when the hybridity of the language invites complexity into her meditations on race, alterity, and gender." —Publishers Weekly
"In Atmospheric Embroidery, Meena Alexander takes us on her magic carpet ride of language and image. Reading her is the pleasure of displacement, but also the sadness of inescapable loss. She makes me cry. She makes me happy." —Nell Painter, author of The History of White People and Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over
"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."—Vijay Seshadri, Pulitzer prize-winning author of 3 Sections and The Long Meadow
"From the real to the mythical to the fantastical, Meena Alexander takes the reader to vivid and unusual places. With motifs of birds and flight, intermingling with fire, Atmospheric Embroidery warbles and smolders in surprising and memorable ways. —Peter Kahn, co-editor, The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks
