Newest Book by Claudia Rankine '93 Out in August

Triage, the newest book from Writing alum Claudia Rankine '93, will be making its way to bookshelves on August 4, 2026. 

As described by publisher Graywolf Press, Triage follows the friendship between two composite characters, "the narrator and the theorist," who struggle to "define their wounded histories and their shared but separate lives. During college, they invent a game of collapse: Every time they see each other, they have to stop and fall to the ground. As their kinship continues off and on for decades, 'collapse' takes on new meanings that are seen and felt in the violence of their pasts, artworks depicting couches where someone might ease their exhaustion, the ongoing devastation in Gaza, and the antagonism of their conversation and their love for each other." 

Triage was quickly named one of Harper’s Bazaar’s Most Highly Anticipated Books of 2026. Writer Ella Ceron shared that “Rankine is a literary icon, so it’s no surprise that she’s found ways to blend genres and formats into her next book. Rankine explores the backdrop of violence that has only intensified in recent years, as well as the love that keeps us together in emotionally numbing times.”

Rankine recently read from the book and spoke about her work at a Claremont Colleges Event. According to The Student Life, Rankine shared that “This book explores the difference between surrendering and collapsing. I am interested in looking at what it means to recognize that grieving is an appropriate reaction to this moment.” 

Rankine is the author of eight books, including Just Us: An American Conversation, Citizen: An American Lyric and Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric; three plays including HELP, which premiered in March 2020, and The White Card, which premiered in February 2018 and was published by Graywolf Press in 2019; as well as numerous video collaborations. She is also the co-editor of several anthologies including The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of the Mind. In 2016, Rankine co-founded The Racial Imaginary Institute. Among her numerous awards and honors, Rankine is the recipient of a National Book Critics Circle Award, Forward Prize, LA Times Book Award, the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, the Poets & Writers’ Jackson Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, United States Artists, DAAD, The American Academy in Rome, The American Academy in Berlin, and the National Endowment of the Arts. A former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Claudia Rankine teaches in the NYU Creative Writing Program and lives in New York.