Poet Rankine earns national book honor

Poet Claudia Rankine, who visited the College of Saint Benedict earlier this year, has received the award for best book of poetry for publishing year 2014 by the National Book Critics Circle.

“Citizen: An American Lyric” (Graywolf Press) had already made history by being nominated in two categories in the competition: poetry and criticism. The award was announced March 12 in New York City.

Rankine, who was the 2014 Sister Mariella Gable winner, held a reading from her book Jan. 29 while in residency at CSB.

The Sister Mariella Gable Award is given each year by CSB for an important work of literature published by Graywolf Press. The late Sister Mariella Gable was a Dante scholar, poet, editor, writer and champion of new fiction. She was an outstanding English professor who taught at CSB from 1928-73.

Graywolf Press and the Literary Arts Institute at CSB have formed a partnership, exploring innovative ways to promote the literary arts on campus, to audiences in the surrounding area and in the Twin Cities.

Founded in 1974, the National Book Critics Circle Awards are given annually to honor outstanding writing and to foster a national conversation about reading, criticism and literature. The awards are open to any book published in the United States in English (including translations). The National Book Critics Circle comprises nearly 700 critics and editors from leading newspapers and magazines providing coverage of books.

See the original news release on Rankine's visit in January.