'Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work' named KU's next Common Book


LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has announced the 2018-19 Common Book, intended to broaden the campus community's conversations about identity and citizenship. "Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work," by Edwidge Danticat, will be the focus of several campus events, including the author's Common Book address at 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Lied Center.

“To create dangerously is also to create fearlessly, boldly embracing the public and private terrors that would silence us,” Danticat writes in this series of essays, championing artistic production in the face of political and social strife. The Haitian-American author, who is also a MacArthur Fellow and Langston Hughes Medal recipient, explores her own creative relationship with her native Haiti, and her essays form a forceful call to create and read courageously, especially in times of crisis.

Discussions of "Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work" will continue examining themes of citizenship and identity explored in KU's previous two Common Books: "Citizen: An American Lyric" by Claudia Rankine, and "Between the World and Me," by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Pulled wide by her dual belonging to Haiti and the United States, Danticat’s reflections on her own betweenness will encourage KU readers to consider the many forms taken by their own exiles and allegiances.

“The selection of 'Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work' as the KU Common Book is timely in the context of ongoing conversations about race and citizenship at KU and across the nation," said Chancellor Douglas A. Girod. “The Common Book program is designed to encourage our community of scholars to address challenging topics, and this year's selection — like those before it — will do exactly that.”

In keeping with the KU Common Book program’s commitment to connecting departments across campus, Danticat’s work is in conversation with creative writing, visual art, journalism, history, African diaspora studies, globalization, political science, leadership, international relations, medicine and more. From the photojournalism of Daniel Morel to the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat to the activism of Alèrte Bélance, this book speaks to creativity in the broadest sense of the term.

The book has received numerous awards, including the 2011 Bocas Lit Fest OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature in Nonfiction and the 2013 Grand Prize for Literature from the Association of Caribbean Writers. It was a finalist for the 2010 Book of the Year Award in Biography and Autobiography from ForeWord Reviews and was named the New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice for 2010.

The KU Common Book program creates a shared academic experience for first-year students and fosters connections among students, faculty, and staff. New students receive the KU Common Book during Orientation and participate in a series of courses, discussions and events throughout the academic year. KU Common Book events are free and open to the public, including Danticat's lecture Sept. 6.

Thu, 03/29/2018

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Joe Monaco

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