Award-Winning Poet To Deliver Richard Ellmann Lectures At Emory University

November 6th, 2019

Poet and essayist Claudia Rankine will deliver the next series of Richard Ellman Lectures in Modern Literature from Nov. 7 to Nov. 9.

Courtesy of the Emory News Center

Richard Ellmann Lectures in Modern Literature is poised to return to Emory University.

Award-winning poet and essayist Claudia Rankine will deliver two lectures “A History of Olympia’s Maid in Contemporary Poetry” on Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m. and “Poets Engaged with Nationalism, Borders and Belonging” on Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. A reading and book signing is planned for Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. The free events will be at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on Emory’s Atlanta campus.

Rankine has authored two plays and five collections of poetry. Some of her works include “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” and “Provenance of Beauty: A South Bronx Travelogue.” She has also been a part of video collaborations.

Emory English professor Geraldine Higgins sat down with “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to discuss this year’s event.

“[Rankine’s] work is so timely. It speaks very much to our present moment, and it always has. Her volume “Citizen,” which came out [in] 2013, was just extraordinary and had a huge impact on American poetry and American cultural life. It opens up discussions about race and some of the ways race is embedded in American culture,” Higgins said.

In previous years, the biennial series has brought internationally renowned authors to Atlanta, including Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood and Colm Tóibín.