CSU poetry professor nominated for 43rd annual NAACP Image Award Quraysh Ali Lansana among five category nominees, including T.D. Jakes and Tavis Smiley Jan. 25, 2012 — Chicago State salutes Quraysh Ali Lansana, co-author with Georgia A. Popoff of "Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy & Social Justice in Classroom & Community," nominated in the NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Literary Work — Instructional category. The annual event is the nation's premiere celebration of the accomplishments of people of color in TV, recording, literature, film, and writing & directing. Lansana, associate professor of English and creative writing, stands among notables in a range of artistic fields, including nominees Pooch Hall of BET's "The Game," Sofia Vergara of ABC's "Modern Family" and Idris Elba of BBC America's hit drama "Luther." The awards ceremony airs on NBC at 9 p.m., Friday, Feb. 17. An Enid, OK, native, Lansana earned a master's of fine arts degree at New York University. He has been a literary teaching artist and curriculum developer for more than a decade and has led workshops in prisons, public schools and universities throughout the nation. His oeuvre includes the poetry collections "Southside Rain" and "They Shall Run: Harriet Tubman Poems," and he has edited seven anthologies. Lansana's many awards include a poetry video collaboration with Kurt Heintz, which won the first ever Image Union/Bob Award from WTTW-TV (PBS). Lansana's co-nominees for Outstanding Literary Work — Instructional are:
"Prof. Lansana imbues everything he does, from teaching to writing, with passion and vision," says Dr. David Kanis, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Chicago State. "It's great the world now knows what we've always known at CSU — there's quiet excellence found on this campus each day." View the full list of nominees here.
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