This panel will look at literature, both here and in France, and how it engages the work of identity in our era of political extremism and activist movements such as Black Lives Matter in the U.S. or the Nuit Debout in France.

Considering language as a site of political struggle and a reflection of the social constructions that shape our worldview, the authors will discuss the intersections between identity, language and politics. What is the role that literature plays in challenging our preconceptions and reimagining society?

Watch this event live via Livestream on Nov. 6 at 3:00pm (EST).

Claudia Rankine is a poet, playwright and video artist. Her poetry collection Citizen: An American Lyric won the National Book Critics Circle Award, among other distinctions, and is the only poetry collection to be a New York Times nonfiction bestseller. Rankine is Chair of English at the University of Southern California.

Zahia Rahmani is a writer who has worked for contemporary art institutions including the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Jeu de Paume in Paris and Vila Arson in Nice. She is currently visiting professor at NYU’s Gallatin School and directs a research program at the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art. She is the author of France, Story of a Childhood, among other texts.

Jacqueline Woodson won the National Book Award for her memoir Brown Girl Dreaming. Currently serving a two year term as Young People’s Poet Laureate, she is the author of more than thirty award-winning books for children and young adults. Her most recent adult novel is New York Times Bestseller, Another Brooklyn.

Charles Robinson is the author of three novels Génie du Proxénétisme, Dans les cités, et Fabrication de la guerre civile, all published by Le Seuil.

Adam Shatz, a former literary editor of The Nation, is a contributing editor at the London Review of Books, and contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, and The New Yorker. He has reported from Algeria, Palestine, Egypt and Lebanon, and has been a visiting professor at New York University.

This event is part of Festival Albertine 2016. All events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.

Festival Albertine is made possible with major support from The Recanati-Kaplan Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Susannah Hunnewell, Air France, Van Cleef & Arpels, Institut français, and the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University. Generous support is provided by Champagne Pommery and The Carlyle.

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