Listen/ Read Poem Excerpts, Interviews & Reviews
- From Citizen: “You are in the dark, in the car...”Poem excerpts by Poetry Foundation
- Claudia Rankine’s 'Citizen' shows what racism really feels likeMatt Frassica, Aug 18, 2017,Northwest Public Television
Borrow the Book from the Library
A provocative meditation on race, Claudia Rankin's bold new book recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in twenty-first-century daily life and in the media. Some of these encounters are slight, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis courts with Serena Williams and the soccer field with Zinedine Zidane, online, on TV & everywhere, all the time. Citizens is a powerful testament to the individual and collective effects of racism in our contemporary, often named "post-race" society.
Copies of the book are available for checkout in the library. Please ask at the service desk.
Reading Guide...
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine Reading Guide for GVSU’s 2015-2016 Community Reading Project By Maureen Wolverton and Jennifer Jameslyn
The Big Read Comes to Gateway
"An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Showcasing a diverse range of contemporary titles that reflect many different voices and perspectives, the NEA Big Read aims to inspire conversation and discovery (About NEA Big Read | Arts Midwest)."
The 2018 Big Read focuses on Claudia's Rankine's book, Citizen: An American Lyric. Gateway will be hosting a book discussion in addition to other events offered throughout Greater New Haven. Check back for more details this Spring!