Citizen: An American Lyric
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]
Summary
The book consists of seven chapters interspersed with images and artworks. The first chapter details
Reception
Citizen was a New York Times best seller.[8]
The book received rave reviews from The Adroit Journal,[9] Bookforum,[10] The Boston Review,[11] Brevity,[12] The Guardian,[13] The Independent,[14]The New York Review of Books,[15] The New York Times,[16]The New York Times Book Review,[17] The New Yorker,[18] Publishers Weekly,[19] The Seattle Review of Books,[20] and Slate.[21]
Dan Chiasson, in the
Booklist,[22] Kirkus,[23] The Oxonian Review,[24] Shelf Awareness,[25] and The Washington Post[26] provided positive reviews, as well.
Kirkus called Citizen "[f]requently powerful, occasionally opaque."[23] In The Washington Post, Michael Lindgren wrote, "Part protest lyric, part art book, Citizen is a dazzling expression of the painful double consciousness of black life in America."[26]
The book was ranked the greatest literary work of the 2010s by Literary Hub contributors.[27]
In a reflection ahead of its tenth anniversary, writer Lisa Teasley wrote: "Yet Citizen: An American Lyric continues to be deeply, unsettlingly relevant. It captures the unequal recognition of belonging that Black citizens in white America receive. By using second person, Rankine brings us into the feelings of invisibility and hypervisibility produced by these situations."[28]
Awards and honors
Year | Award/Honor | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | California Book Awards for Poetry
|
Finalist | [29] |
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry | Winner | [30] | |
National Book Award for Poetry | Finalist | [31] | |
National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry | Winner | [3][32] | |
National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism | Finalist | [3] | |
2015 | Forward Prizes for Poetry Best Collection | Winner | [5][33] |
Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry | Winner | [34][35] | |
PEN Open Book Award
|
Winner | [36][37] | |
Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award for Poetry | Winner | [38][39] | |
2017 | Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry | Winner | [40] |
References
- ^ Chiasson, Dan. "Color Codes". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
- ISSN 0026-7929.
- ^ a b c "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.
- ^ a b Brown, Mark (28 September 2015). "Claudia Rankine's Citizen wins Forward poetry prize". the Guardian.
- ^ Mohamed, Alysha. "'Citizen: An American Lyric' challenges readers with the reality of casual racism". Queen's Journal. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
- S2CID 149293816.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ O'Rourke, Kenna (2018-10-23). "On Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine (Reviewed by Kenna O'Rourke)". The Adroit Journal. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Sehgal, Parul (January 2015). "Sister Outsider". Book Forum. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Fischer, BK. "Chokehold". Boston Review. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Morse, Sandell (2016-01-18). "A Review of Claudia Rankine's Citizen, An American Lyric". Brevity. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
- ^ Kellaway, Kate (2015-08-30). "Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine review – the ugly truth of racism". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ O'Brien, Sean (2015-07-16). "Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine, book review: Grimly". The Independent. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ a b Chiasson, Dan (2014-10-20). "Color Codes". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ "Fiction Book Review: Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine. Graywolf (FSG, dist.), $20 trade paper (160p) ISBN 978-1-55597-690-3". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Constant, Paul (2017-01-05). "A room full of citizens, by Paul Constant". The Seattle Review of Books. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Farmer, Jonathan (2014-10-09). "The Genius Poet Whose New Book Makes Race Ferociously Real". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Seaman, Donna (2015-10-14). "Citizen". Booklist. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
- ^ a b "Citizen". Kirkus Reviews. 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
- ^ Foley, Hugh (2015-10-13). "'The Full Force of Your American Positioning'". The Oxonian Review. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Wheeler, Dave (2015-03-03). "From My Shelf". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ a b Michael Lindgren (10 March 2015). "Color Codes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ "Best of the Decade: What Books Will We Still Be Reading in 10 Years?". Literary Hub. 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
- ^ Teasley, Lisa (28 March 2023). "Introducing Claudia Rankine's 'Citizen'". Alta. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ^ "84th Annual California Book Awards Winners". Commonwealth Club. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
- ^ "Winners of the '46th NAACP Image Awards' | Press Room". NAACP. 2016-06-22. Archived from the original on 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "National Book Awards 2014". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Alexandra Alter (March 12, 2015). "'Lila' Honored as Top Fiction by National Book Critics Circle". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
- ^ Cheever, Susan (2015-09-29). "Awards: Thurber Winner; Forward for Best Poetry Collection". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (2015-04-18). "The winners of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes are ..." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Morrison, Toni (2015-04-20). "Awards: L.A. Times; Minnesota Book". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (2015-09-10). "Claudia Rankine and Meghan Daum lead 2015 PEN Literary Awards". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Announcing the 2015 PEN Literary Award Winners". PEN America. 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Andrew, Sally (2015-10-27). "Awards: Hurston/Wright Legacy; CODE Burt; Readings". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- ^ Satyal, Rakesh (2017-03-31). "Awards: Bobbitt Poetry Winners; Lindquist & Vennum Finalists". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2022-01-28.