Purchase College Announces Poet Claudia Rankine as Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature

Purchase College-SUNY has announced that Claudia Rankine, the critically-acclaimed and bestselling poet, will be the college’s 2016-17 Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature. In this position, Rankine will present numerous programs throughout the academic year, including readings and workshops.

On Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m., the college will present “A Reading and Conversation with Claudia Rankine”. The event—launching this year’s Durst Distinguished Lecture Series—is free and open to the public. It will take place in the Humanities Theater at Purchase College (735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY, 10577).

For more information, please visit https://news.purchase.edu/sep-22-claudia-rankine-a-reading-and-conversation/ or call 914.251.6550.

The author of five collections of poetry, Claudia Rankine is the Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University. Her most recent book, Citizen: An American Lyric (2014), won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, the PEN Open Book Award, the NAACP Image Award, and the LA Times Book Award for poetry.

“Claudia Rankine is a daring poet and a fiercely intelligent public intellectual, one of our best thinkers and writers on race in America today,” says Anthony Domestico, assistant professor of literature at Purchase College. “Citizen: An American Lyric is already recognized as a classic. In its mixture of poetry, criticism, and visual imagery, Citizen forces us to think deeper about what it means to be black in a supposedly post-racial moment.”

He adds, “Rankine’s is a voice that is desperately needed right now—a need that explains how Citizen, a difficult book about difficult issues, has made it to the New York Times Bestseller list and become a touchstone for Black Lives Matter. I can’t wait to see how she challenges and changes the conversation about race and America at Purchase.”

Jennifer Uleman, associate professor of philosophy at Purchase College, comments, “Claudia Rankine is a genius of reality, and of the realities that mess with reality. The layers and layers of truth in her work are breathtaking. It has been thrilling to see students discover her work, and I know I speak for many when I say how honored and excited I am that she will be at Purchase this fall."

Ryane Lovett-Pitts, a senior studying senior philosophy and literature at Purchase College, reflects, “Claudia Rankine’s mastery of the second-person requires her non-black reader to situate themselves within the narrative of the quintessential black experience—an opportunity for real empathy, and care ethics across the color-line.”

The Durst Distinguished Lecture Series and the Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature are funded by the Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature Endowment. The mission of the Durst programs is to infuse the experience and intellect of leading writers into the Purchase community, while providing diverse opportunities for these writers to interact with students and influence campus life.

This contribution has greatly benefited Purchase College’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Humanities, and Literature program.

This year’s Durst Distinguished Lecture Series will feature acclaimed and upcoming writers including Kirstin Valdez Quade, Justin Torres, Alexander Chee, and Garth Greenwell.

For more information, please visit https://news.purchase.edu/sep-22-claudia-rankine-a-reading-and-conversation/ or call 914.251.6550.