Claudia Rankine of Pomona College Wins the 2014 Jackson Poetry Prize

Claudia Rankine, the Henry G. Lee Professor of English at Pomona College in Claremont, California, is the recipient of the 2014 Jackson Poetry Prize. The prize, which comes with a $50,000 cash award, was established in 2006 by the Liana Foundation. To be eligible for the prize, a poet must have published a least two books of merit.

The judges for the Jackson Poetry Prize stated that “the moral vision of Claudia Rankine’s poetry is astounding. In both vision  and voice she has distinguished herself as a singular perspective, a consummate talent, and a courageous spirit.”

Professor Rankine, who also is an accomplished playwright, has authored four collections of poetry including Don’t Let Me Be Lonely (Graywolf Press, 2004). Her newest collection, Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf Press, 2014) will be published in October. She is also the co-editor of American Poets in the Twenty-First Century: The New Poetics (Wesleyan University Press, 2007).

Professor Rankine is a native of Jamaica. She is a graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and holds a master of fine arts degree in poetry from Columbia University.