WEBVTT

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I would like to
welcome you tonight.

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And we are co-sponsoring this
event with the Poetry Center.

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And I'm going to
take just a minute

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to talk a little bit
about why every year

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students and an honors
course here at the U of A

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taught by Professor
Charlie Birch.

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In this case, who's around here,
he's and there and sometimes

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by [? Jennie ?] [? McStotts ?],,
who was here earlier,

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the students get together and
choose a common reading book

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for students and
the following year.

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So my decide what books
should all the freshman

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reading for the next year?

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And then in the summertime,
all of the first year students,

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many of whom are here tonight,
receive a copy of the book.

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Often, as is the
case this year, they

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have a chance to meet the writer
and to talk to her about ideas.

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Which as far as I'm
concerned, is the main reason

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to go to college
in the first place.

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And when they go get
books think about

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and they consider all
sorts and kinds of books

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and all sorts and
kinds of genres.

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So they've chosen
novels in the past.

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Memoirs, nonfiction,
even science fiction.

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And then be wonderful
in different ways.

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But this year for what I
believe is the first time

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since this book is really
different from any other one

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we've ever had before.

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Citizen is sometimes
called poetry,

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but I like Rankine's
own remark that

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says that it is an attempt
to pull the lyric back

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into its realities.

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So we've never had a
poetry book before,

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and we've never had a book
that's pulling a lyric back

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into its realities.

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As you know, this book is
challenging in many ways.

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And as always, in
form and in content,

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it's beautifully
written and beautiful

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and terrible to look at.

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And for so many reasons
I'm really, really thrilled

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that the students chose
Citizen as their 2016 book.

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I'm also especially thrilled
that Professor Rankine is here.

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And to introduce her, I'd like
to bring up my colleague Tyler

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Meier, executive director
of the Poetry Center,

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and say thanks to you for
working with the Honors

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College on this event.

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