 The cover of the American softback first edition | |
| Author | Claudia Rankine |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher |
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Publication date | October 7, 2014 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 166 (softcover) |
| ISBN | 978-1-555-97690-3 (US softcover) ISBN 978-0-141-98177-2 (UK softcover) |
Citizen: An American Lyric is a 2014 book-length poem[1] and a series of lyric essays by American poet Claudia Rankine. Citizen stretches the conventions of traditional lyric poetry by interweaving several forms of text and media into a collective portrait of racial relations in the United States.[2] The book ranked as a New York Times Bestseller in 2015 and won several awards, including the 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry,[3] the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry,[4] and the 2015 Forward Prize for Poetry Best Collection.[5]
In her critique of racism and visibility, Rankine details the quotidian microaggressions African-Americans face, discusses controversial incidents such as backlashes against tennis player Serena Williams, and inquires about the ramifications of the shootings of Trayvon Martin and James Craig Anderson. She draws on pop culture[6] and intersperses her writing with images of various paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other digital media to "render visible the black experience".[7]
- ^ Chiasson, Dan. "Color Codes". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
- ^ Love, Heather (2016-09-01). "Small Change: Realism, Immanence, and the Politics of the Micro". Modern Language Quarterly. 77 (3): 419–445. doi:10.1215/00267929-3570678. ISSN 0026-7929.
- ^ "National Book Critics Circle Announces Finalists for Publishing Year 2014". National Book Critics Circle. January 19, 2015. Archived from the original on January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ "Citizen: An American Lyric". NEA. 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
- ^ Brown, Mark (28 September 2015). "Claudia Rankine's Citizen wins Forward poetry prize". the Guardian.
- ^ Mohamed, Alysha (26 February 2021). "'Citizen: An American Lyric' challenges readers with the reality of casual racism". Queen's Journal. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
- ^ Adams, Bella (2017-04-03). "Black Lives/White Backgrounds: Claudia Rankine's Citizen: An American Lyric and Critical Race Theory" (PDF). Comparative American Studies. 15 (1–2): 61. doi:10.1080/14775700.2017.1406734. ISSN 1477-5700. S2CID 149293816.