Claudia
Rankine

Claudia Rankine is an American poet, playwright, and professor. Since her poetry debut Nothing in Nature is Private (1994), she has published five more volumes of poetry and several plays. Her long poem Citizen: An American Lyric (2014) was a finalist for National Book Award and was published in German in 2018. In her writing, which combines poetry, essays, and visual art, she explores racism and identity. Her most recent publication is Just Us: An American Conversation (2020). She is a founding member of the Racial Imaginary Institute and member of the Academy of American Poets. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including the PEN Center USA Poetry Award (2015) and the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry (2016). Rankine was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2019 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.