Rankine’s book-length work, subtitled An American Lyric, combines poetry and politics, essay and image, to create a searing inquiry into race in present-day America. At its heart is the intention to invoke in language all the ways trauma takes up residence in the body, amounting to a physical, as well as psychological or emotional, assault. Rankine achieves this by moving from the personal to the public, beginning with small, offhanded “microaggressions” before shifting to a more broadly defined territory of collective loss. Among other subjects, Rankine offers pointed meditations on Hurricane Katrina and the killings of young Black men such as Mark Duggan and Trayvon Martin. The result is a tour de force of both form and content, a book that resonates with fierce intensity.

Graywolf Press CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC, BY CLAUDIA RANKINE

<I>CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC</i>, BY CLAUDIA RANKINE
$19 at Bookshop
Credit: Graywolf Press

RELATED STORIES

claudia rankine, citizen, helga davis, john freeman
Event Recap: Claudia Rankine Discusses ‘Citizen’

Read More

Caleb Lee Adams; Getty Images
serena williams, claudia rankine, race, racism, citizen an american lyric
The Long Rally of Claudia Rankine’s ‘Citizen’

READ MORE

getty images
claudia rankine, citizen an american lyric
‘Citizen’ Deciphers the Blur of Experience

READ MORE

Caleb Lee Adams
citizen, police violence
A Bard for the Reality We Live

READ MORE

GETTY IMAGES
claudia rankine books
‘Citizen’: An Assemblage of Experience

READ MORE

Alta
claudia rankine, citizen, poetry
Remember the Future: On Claudia Rankine’s ‘Citizen’

READ MORE

Caleb Lee Adams
citizen, claudia rankine
Excerpt: ‘Citizen: An American Lyric’

READ MORE

Caleb Lee Adams
claudia rankine
Why I Write: Because Here Is Nowhere Steady

READ MORE

Caleb Lee Adams
citizen, claudia rankine
Why You Should Read This: ‘Citizen’

READ MORE

Graywolf Press
claudia rankine, citizen, helga davis
California Book Club: Claudia Rankine Transcript

READ MORE

Caleb Lee Adams; Getty Images