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
- Passage to Manhattan: Critical Essays on Meena Alexander. Lopamudra Basu and Cynthia Leenerts (eds). Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009.
- Maxey, Ruth (2011). South Asian Atlantic Literature, 1970-2010. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9781474423557.
- Guiyou Huang, ed., Asian-American Poets: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook (Greenwood Press, 2002)
