An Evening with Claudia Rankine

Presented by NEA Big Read: Hampton Roads, the ODU President's Lecture Series, and the President's Task Force on Inclusive Excellence

An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. For NEA Big Read: Hampton Roads, that book is "Citizen: An American Lyric."

NEA Big Read: Hampton Roads, the President's Lecture Series, and the President's Task Force on Inclusive Excellence invite you to a powerful evening with Claudia Rankine, the book's author, hosted by Tim Seibles, Poet Laureate for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and opening with readings by local youth poets.

Claudia Rankine has written five collections of poetry, including "Citizen: An American Lyric," which was selected for the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read, and two plays. She also has participated in several video collaborations and edited anthologies including "The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of the Mind."

Rankine has received fellowships from the MacArthur and Guggenheim foundations. "Citizen" won several honors, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, the PEN Open Book Award and the NAACP Image Award. "Citizen" also was the only poetry book to be a New York Times nonfiction bestseller. She is the Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University and chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

For more information on NEA Big Read: Hampton Roads events occurring throughout the Hampton Roads area, stay tuned to HRBigRead.org for up to date information.

Tickets: This event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required for entry. Limit 2 tickets per customer. Please note that ticket holders must arrive at least 15 minutes prior to event start time. Tickets that have not been scanned by 6:45 p.m. may be released to other guests. For reserving ticket please go to ODUArtsTix.com