Alexandra Oliver


Alexandra Edith Amelia Basekic is a Canadian poet. She began as a Vancouver-based slam poet in the early 1990s, and appeared in the 1998 documentary film SlamNation. Oliver won the 2014 Pat Lowther Award for her collection Meeting the Tormentors in Safeway.
As of 2025, Oliver is an instructor at OCAD University.

Early life and education

Alexandra Edith Amelia Oliver was born in Vancouver in 1970.
She received a Master of Arts in drama from the University of Toronto in 1992, a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing in 2012, and a Doctor of Philosophy in English and cultural studies from McMaster University.

Awards and honors

included Hail the Invisible Watchman on their list of the "best Canadian poetry of 2022".
YearWorkAwardResult
2014Meeting the Tormentors in SafewayPat Lowther AwardWinner
2017Let the Empire DownPat Lowther AwardShortlist

Personal life

She is married to engineer Dragan Basekic, and she is a parent.

Publications

  • Meeting the Tormentors in Safeway
  • Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters, co-editor with Annie Finch
  • Let the Empire Down
  • On the Oven Sits a Maiden
  • ''Hail the Invisible Watchman''