Alicia Ostriker - January 29, 2026

Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Date
Reading Series
Spring Reading Series
Location
Poetry Center
Alicia Ostriker

Alicia Ostriker reads from her seventeenth book of poems, The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time (2024). Written during the Covid-19 pandemic, these poems move through domesticity, political division, police brutality, and Ostriker's ongoing spiritual quest. Ostriker was delayed in reaching Tucson and appeared via Zoom for an in-person audience. This reading was originally given with Eleanor Wilner.

Tags

Tracks
ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_01.mp4
Welcome
Description

by Tyler Meier

Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_01.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_02.mp4
Introduction
Description

by Cynthia Hogue

Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_02.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_03.mp4
On her book The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
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pandemic
COVID-19
quarantine
faith
spirituality
aging
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_03.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_04.mp4
"These Be the Words..."
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
mortality
pandemic
COVID-19
bible
writing
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_04.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_05.mp4
"Time (Time is like a twisted arm...)"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
time
short poem
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_05.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_06.mp4
"Slowly (He goes down the stone steps...)"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
daily life
aging
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_06.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_07.mp4
"Slowly (The image of a man…)"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
dream
time
mortality
dreams
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_07.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_08.mp4
"Time (Time goes by...)"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
time
daily life
train
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_08.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_09.mp4
"Plague Time Ritual I"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
humor
domesticity
marriage
mortality
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_09.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_10.mp4
"Plague Time Ritual II"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
pandemic
virus
sin
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_10.vtt
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OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_11.mp4
"Demonstration in Plague Time"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
midwest
middle america
protest
vaccination
pandemic
compassion
anger
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_11.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_12.mp4
"All That Year"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
politics
discourse
misinformation
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_12.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_13.mp4
"Nocturne"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
police violence
police brutality
antiblackness
racism
night
nocturne
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_13.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_14.mp4
"Late Winter in Plague Time"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
virus
pandemic
COVID-19
trees
walking
winter
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_14.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_15.mp4
"Fever"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
sickness
caretaking
health care
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_15.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_16.mp4
"The Salley Gardens"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
yeats
wb yeats
daily life
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_16.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_17.mp4
"Helpmate"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
mortality
dream
intimacy
partner
partnership
worry
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_17.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_18.mp4
"Beauty (A Drop of Dopamine)"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
flower
domesticity
aging
Captions
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_19.mp4
"Prayer to the Shekhinah"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
prayer
birth
death
faith
femininity
judaism
spirituality
Captions
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_20.mp4
"Speaking Slowly, Softly, She Says"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
death
aging
chance
mortality
faith
spirituality
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_20.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_21.mp4
"Confession: When I Chose Him"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
love poem
love
laughter
humor
aging
vitality
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_21.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_22.mp4
"Some Nights"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
sleep
intimacy
domesticity
reading
night
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_22.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_23.mp4
"The Force That Sends Light"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
light
judaisim
mortality
faith
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_23.vtt
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ostriker-alicia_01-29-2026_24.mp4
"Coda"
Reader
Ostriker, Alicia
Citation

Ostriker, Alicia. The Holy & Broken Bliss: Poems in Plague Time. New Gloucester: Alice James Books, 2024. 

tag
coda
poetry
short poem
Captions
OSTRIKER-ALICIA_01-29-2026_24.vtt
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Alicia Ostriker wears dark-red rimmed glasses, a dark grey sweater, and a grey and black patterned scarf. She stands in front of a grey brick background with plants.
Alicia Ostriker
Photographer
Paola Valenzuela
View Track
Alicia Ostriker and Eleanor Wilner stand next to each other. Alicia wears dark-red rimmed glasses, a dark grey sweater, and a grey and black patterned scarf. Eleanor wears a navy blue button-down over a blue cotton logo t-shirt. She has one pair of sunglasses on her head, and another pair of glasses hang from a silver chain around her neck. The chain is visible, but the glasses are out of frame. They stand next to each other in front of a rust-colored fence with a vine running across it
Alicia Ostriker and Eleanor Wilner
Photographer
Paola Valenzuela
View Track

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