Inauguration poet mixes grief, love in her new memoir

Elizabeth Alexander transfixed the nation when she read "Praise Song for the Day" at Obama's 2009 inauguration. Millions who never read poetry absorbed her words as she spoke from the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

That shining moment was followed by a heartrending loss three years later, when her husband died unexpectedly at age 50.

In her new memoir, "The Light of the World," Alexander mixes poetry with grief to craft a moving portrait of absence. She joined MPR News' Kerri Miller to discuss the book and the powerful process of writing about loss.

Writing about grief, Alexander discovered while working on the book, necessitated using different language.

"I do remember just wailing and keening, those powerful, powerful words that I never had occasion to use before," she said.

But there is more to the memoir than loss.

"If you're writing about grief," Alexander said, "in my case, I was also writing about love."

"The Light of the World" details family rituals and recipes that captured the richness of their time together.

"I think I never so fully understood as I do now the importance of small, small, small details to tell stories that are larger and have universal resonance."