Poet Claudia Rankine speaks on ‘Black Lives Matter’

Claudia Rankine, poet and playwright, will speak at UIC April 8. Photo: John Lucas (click for larger image)

The “Black Lives Matter” lecture series of the University of Illinois at Chicago African American studies department will feature a reading and conversation with Claudia Rankine, an award-winning poet and playwright.

WHEN:

April 8
Noon – 2 p.m.

WHERE:

UIC Student Center East
Room 613
750 S. Halsted St.

DETAILS:

Claudia Rankine, who is known for bold literary works on race and contemporary issues in black America, will discuss matters of police violence and trauma in African American communities.

Rankine has published five collections of poetry, including “Citizen: An American Lyric” (2014), a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, and “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric” (2004). “Citizen,” which was also a 2014 National Book Award finalist in poetry, addresses racism in daily American social and cultural life.

Her plays include “Provenance of Beauty: A South Bronx Travelogue,” which was commissioned by the Foundry Theatre. Rankine is the Henry G. Lee professor of English at Pomona College and series co-editor of “American Women Poets in the Twenty-First Century: Where Lyric Meets Language.”

The event, which is free and open to the public, includes a reception and book signing. For more information, call (312) 996-2950.

Event co-sponsors are the UIC African American Cultural Center, the UIC Social Justice Initiative and Women and Children First Bookstore.