On the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 19, the Midwest Poet Series, sponsored by The Missouri Arts Council and Center for Arts and Letters and hosted by Rockhurst University, welcomed critically acclaimed poet Sarah Ghazal Ali.
Ali is an award-winning poet and assistant professor of English at Macalester College and holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the winner of The Sewanee Review Poetry Prize, and her work – both poems and essays – has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poetry, The Kenyon Review, Pleiades, Narrative Magazine, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series and Best New Poets.
Ali shared excerpts of poetry from her book “Theophanies,” such as “Annunciation,” and “Roadkill Elegy” at the Midwest Poet Series. Each poem contained themes of faith, womanhood and imperfection.
Jameelah Lang, Ph.D., Rockhurst University assistant professor of English, is the director for the Midwest Poets Series and opened with a sermon regarding what is in a name, when are we named and what are the abilities in establishing and claiming a name.
For Ali, the act of naming is more than just assigning identity, it is an inquiry into power, faith and lineage. “When are we named?” Lang asked, contemplating what a name can hold and what it fails to yield. These questions shape much of Ali’s work, including a poem about the biblical figure Sara, before she was renamed Sarah, exploring the transformative nature of language and belief and her own namesake.
Ali often wrestles with the tension between faith and skepticism in her poetry. Ali’s book, “Theophanies” centers on this paradox: the longing to be seen and recognized by the divine while grappling with the feeling of being overlooked.
“I find permission in having faith and still disbelieving,” Ali said, reflecting on her fascination with Sara’s story.
Both personal experience and intellectual curiosity shape Ali’s relationship with faith. Raised by a father who is a doctor, she grew up aware of the apparent divide between science and religion. But rather than choosing one over the other, Ali identifies as a “both/and” person. This mindset is reflected in her poetry, where scripture, history and personal memory collide.
Ali’s creative and academic paths were not always aligned. Initially on a pre-law track, she had a transformative moment in a political science class while reading Genesis.
“I was blown away that you could study scripture in a political science setting,” Ali said.
The realization that biblical women could be analyzed as political figures led her deeper into poetry. A creative writing class further solidified this path when Ali found herself consumed by writing about her namesake.
Lineage, both natural and spiritual, is also a recurring theme in Ali’s work with particular interest in alternative versions of stories and the different cultural interpretations of faith.
“How many versions of my namesake exist?” Ali said.
Ali’s personal history is also tied to naming. Her middle name, Ghazal, was originally suggested as her first name by her mother’s sister, but as a compromise, it became her middle name. The poetic form it references, rooted in themes of love, loss and devotion, feels fitting for a writer whose work navigates the spaces between belief and doubt.
At the core of it all, Ali’s work is an ongoing conversation with the divine, something she has felt since her childhood.
“I always talked to God. I couldn’t stop myself,” Ali said.
Poetry, Ali believes, has deepened her faith, giving her the space to delve further into mysteries she has felt drawn to.
Ali finished her reading, encapsulating the missions of Midwest Poets Series and Rockhurst University’s missions of “Magis” and the search for more literacy and intellectual thinking in individuals.
Ali ended the Midwest Poet Series for the spring 2025 semester, but more speakers can be anticipated in the fall of 2025.
