Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif Abdurraqib | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983 Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Poet, essayist, cultural commentator |
| Years active | 2015–present |
| Known for | Poetry collections The Crown Ain't Worth Much, A Fortune for Your Disaster; essay collections They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, A Little Devil in America; nonfiction Go Ahead in the Rain |
| Notable work | They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us (2017), A Little Devil in America (2021), Go Ahead in the Rain (2019) |
Hanif Abdurraqib (born 1983) is a distinguished American poet, essayist, and cultural commentator. His debut essay compilation, They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us (2017), alongside his 2021 volume A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, which earned the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, have both contributed to his notable reputation. In 2021, Abdurraqib was honored with a MacArthur Fellowship.
His poetic works include the 2016 release The Crown Ain't Worth Much and the 2019 collection A Fortune for Your Disaster. Additionally, his 2019 nonfiction book centered on hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, titled Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes on A Tribe Called Quest, was longlisted for the National Book Award in the same year.
Early life
Abdurraqib was born and grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Raised in the Muslim faith, he experienced the loss of his mother at age thirteen due to an irregular heartbeat linked to her bipolar medication. He completed his secondary education at Beechcroft High School in 2001 and later earned a marketing degree from Capital University, where he also participated on the soccer team.
Poetry
Abdurraqib’s inaugural poetry collection, The Crown Ain't Worth Much (published by Button Poetry in July 2016), is set against the backdrop of Columbus. Critics from Publishers Weekly emphasized the collection’s potent exploration of the perils faced by young Black Americans. The Indiana Review praised it as "expansive and rich... compassionate, elegiac," while Fusion described it as "a crash course in emotional honesty." Additionally, The Huffington Post noted its "chilling take on black death."
He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and served as a Creative Writing Fellow at Callaloo. Recognized by PBS's Articulate with Jim Cotter as part of a new wave redefining poetry, he was also listed by Blavity among "13 Young Black Poets You Should Know." Abdurraqib holds the position of poetry editor at Muzzle Magazine and co-founded the Echo Hotel poetry collective alongside Eve Ewing. He edited the anthology Again I Wait For This To Pull Apart (FreezeRay Press, 2015). His limited-edition chapbook Vintage Sadness (Big Lucks, 2017) sold out within six hours. In August 2017, he assumed the role of managing editor at Button Poetry. His second poetry volume, A Fortune for Your Disaster, was released by Tin House on September 3, 2019.
During fall 2018, Abdurraqib served as a visiting poet within the MFA program at Butler University.
Prose
Abdurraqib’s essays have appeared in publications such as The Fader, The New York Times, and Pitchfork. He formerly worked as a columnist for MTV News, covering topics related to music, culture, and identity. His essay on Fetty Wap’s "Trap Queen" was recognized by The Huffington Post as one of "The Most Important Writing From People of Color in 2015." Critic Ned Raggett singled out Abdurraqib’s elegy on Muhammad Ali as a "standout" piece that has inspired hip-hop artists.
His essay collection They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, published by Two Dollar Radio in November 2017, was named among "25 must-read books" by the Chicago Tribune. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which described it as "mesmerizing and deeply perceptive." The collection garnered positive attention from outlets including the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and was featured in The New York Times Magazine. A special five-year anniversary edition was issued on November 15, 2022, incorporating new essays and an audiobook narrated by Abdurraqib himself.
In 2019, Abdurraqib released Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest through the University of Texas Press’s American Music Series. The book entered The New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list at number thirteen and received critical acclaim for its fusion of music history with personal storytelling. It was shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize and longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction.
In January 2018, Abdurraqib signed a two-book contract with Random House, including a nonfiction work originally titled They Don't Dance No' Mo'—a historical account of Black performance in America—and a subsequent essay collection following They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us. The nonfiction title was later renamed A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, released March 30, 2021. It earned starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, with Abdurraqib describing it as "a catalogue of excitements." The book won both the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the 2021 Gordon Burn Prize.
His forthcoming work for 2024, titled There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, was longlisted for that year’s National Book Award for Nonfiction.
Podcasts
In 2021, Abdurraqib initiated "Object of Sound," a weekly podcast centered on music produced with Sonos Radio that includes interviews and curated playlists. He also developed the miniseries "Time Machine: The Score" for the podcast series The 11th.
Honors
In 2017, Abdurraqib received an honorary degree in human ecology from the College of the Atlantic. His poetry book The Crown Ain't Worth Much was finalist for both the Eric Hoffer Book Award and nominated for a 2017 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. His essay compilation They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us appeared on numerous best-of-2017 lists from NPR, Pitchfork, Los Angeles Review, Chicago Tribune, Stereogum, National Post (Canada), Paste Magazine, CBC, and Esquire. The book Go Ahead in the Rain was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and longlisted for the National Book Award in nonfiction category in 2019.
In mid-2021, Cbus Libraries commissioned ‘’The People's Mural of Columbus,’’ featuring Abdurraqib; this project was slated for completion by August that year in his hometown.
Abdurraqib earned a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2021 and was awarded a Windham-Campbell Prize in literature in 2024.
Personal life
Married in 2014 while residing in New Haven, Connecticut, Abdurraqib divorced two years later in 2016. He returned to live in his native Columbus, Ohio by 2017.
Bibliography
Books
- Again I Wait For This To Pull Apart (as Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib; FreezeRay Press, 2015)
- The Crown Ain't Worth Much (as Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib; Button Poetry, 2016) ISBN 978-1-943735-04-4
- Vintage Sadness (as Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib; Big Lucks, 2017)
- They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us (Two Dollar Radio, 2017)
- Go Ahead in the Rain (University of Texas Press, 2019)
- A Fortune For Your Disaster (Tin House, 2019)
- A Little Devil in America (Random House, 2021)
- There's Always This Year (Random House, 2024)
- I'm Always Looking Up And You're Jumping (Random House, 2026)
New Yorker columns
- Abdurraqib, Hanif (April 15, 2021). "The timeless pleasures of Dawoud Bey's street portraits". Photo Booth. The New Yorker.
- Abdurraqib, Hanif (May 16, 2025). "In Defense of Despair". Essay. The New Yorker.
References
External links
- 1983 births
- Living people
- 21st-century African-American writers
- 21st-century American essayists
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American poets
- African-American non-fiction writers
- African-American poets
- American male essayists
- American male non-fiction writers
- American music critics
- American music historians
- Butler University faculty
- Capital University alumni
- Historians from Ohio
- MacArthur Fellows
- The New Yorker people
- Poets from Ohio
- Writers from Columbus, Ohio