Elizabeth Alexander, the celebrated poet and president of the Mellon Foundation, is navigating a dual existence this November. As she prepares for the release of her new essay collection, Signals Across Vast Distances, she is simultaneously managing her role at the helm of the Mellon Foundation, which serves as the largest private funder of the arts, culture, and the humanities in the United States. The new 144-page volume, priced at $27, arrives after a career that includes six volumes of poetry, three previous essay collections, and the memoir The Light of the World.
Alexander describes her professional life as a balance between two distinct identities, quipping that she is a Day job by day, writer by night.
While her career has spanned roles as a scholar, educator, and cultural advocate, she maintains that she considers herself first and foremost a poet. Her latest book is the result of 10 years of work, focusing on how art and the humanities can provide connection and sustenance during periods of global turbulence.
Poet Elizabeth Alexander on balancing life, loss and a $500-million mission https://t.co/fDzQIs5Qb5
A Collection Born of Reflection
The title of the new collection is drawn from a 1967 poem by Muriel Rukeyser. Alexander noted that the poem’s themes regarding the struggle to connect amid the noise of modern devices feel particularly relevant today. For Alexander, the work shows that even in 1967—a year defined by the Vietnam War, race riots, and protests—the country had yet to reach a consensus on its future. She views the collection as an effort to document the current era, which she characterizes as spanning from the global pandemic to the protests following George Floyd’s murder, alongside climate change and rising authoritarianism.
Alexander uses the essays to parse the works of authors such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Hayden, and James Baldwin, alongside sharing personal anecdotes. She notes that literature offers a necessary grounding influence. In particular, she cites a line from Brooks’ The Second Sermon on the Warpland
—Conduct your blooming in the noise and the whip of the whirlwind
—as a personal mantra for her efforts to stand and fight for justice.
Literary Background Shapes Philanthropic Approach
Alexander’s approach to her work at the Mellon Foundation is informed by her literary background. She maintains what she calls an internal Rolodex
of poems that inspire her, which she shares as offerings with students and colleagues. This commitment to the humanities extends to her public engagements, including a recent appearance at the Mark Taper Forum for ALOUD Presents, where she sat in conversation with Jacqueline Stewart. Regarding a public monument located at the corner of 76th Street and Western Avenue, Alexander remarked, I’ve visited that monument several times,
adding, and I am awed by the way people have taken to it and claim it as their own.
Her broader mission, both through her philanthropic leadership and her writing, remains the construction of a more comprehensive narrative of the nation.
