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Hanif Abdurraqib

ハニフ・アブドゥルラキブ

Hanif Abdurraqib

Aliases: Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib
Pen Names: Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib（Earlier form of his name used on early publications and credits）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1983-01-01 （Columbus, Ohio, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Islam
Residence History
Columbus, Ohio (birthplace, raised) → New Haven, Connecticut (lived during marriage) → Columbus, Ohio (returned 2017)

Career

Occupations
poet, essayist, cultural critic, music critic, writer
Active Years
2010-
Affiliations
Button Poetry (managing editor), Muzzle Magazine (poetry editor), Echo Hotel (poetry collective, co-founder)
Influenced By
James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Artists of hip-hop and Black performance (e.g., A Tribe Called Quest)
Influenced
Younger poets and cultural critics (a new generation within his community), Eve Ewing (collaborator, co-founder of Echo Hotel)

Education

Beechcroft High School
Period: 1997–2001
Year of Graduation: 2001
Country: United States
High school diploma
Capital University
School of Business / Marketing
Degree: 学士（マーケティング）
Period: 2001–2005
Year of Graduation: 2005
Country: United States
Played on the university soccer team

Awards

MacArthur Fellowship
2021
Organization: MacArthur Foundation
Result: 受賞
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
2022
Work: A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance
Organization: American Library Association (ALA)
Result: 受賞
Gordon Burn Prize
2021
Work: A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance
Organization: Gordon Burn Prize committee
Result: 受賞
Windham–Campbell Prize
2024
Organization: Windham–Campbell Prize administration
Result: 受賞
Kirkus Prize (Nonfiction)
2019
Work: Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes on A Tribe Called Quest
Organization: Kirkus Reviews
Result: 最終候補（ファイナリスト）
National Book Award (Nonfiction) — Longlist
2019
Work: Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes on A Tribe Called Quest
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: ロングリスト入り
National Book Award (Nonfiction) — Longlist
2024
Work: There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: ロングリスト入り

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Crown Ain't Worth Much

2016 poetry

A poetry collection set in Columbus that meditates on youth, loss, community, and the precarity of Black life.

losscommunityurban memory

A Fortune for Your Disaster

2019 poetry 120 pages

A 2019 poetry collection containing poems that weave personal loss with broader social contexts.

griefmemorypersonal and social pain

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

2017 essay collection (music and cultural criticism) 236 pages

A collection of essays on music, culture, and identity, notable for linking music, memory, and personal experience.

music criticismidentitymemory and loss

Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes on A Tribe Called Quest

2019 nonfiction (music history/criticism)

A passionate critique and personal meditation on A Tribe Called Quest, combining music history with memoir.

music historyfan culturepersonal memoir

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance

2021 nonfiction (essays/cultural criticism)

An essay collection praising Black performance, taking a multifaceted look at Black expression in America.

Black performancecultural historycelebration and reminiscence

There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension

2024 nonfiction (essays)

Reflections and cultural commentary on basketball and personal ascension, linking sport, community, and self-formation.

sportscommunitygrowth and hope

Bibliography

  • Again I Wait For This To Pull Apart (FreezeRay Press, 2015)
  • The Crown Ain't Worth Much (Button Poetry, 2016)
  • Vintage Sadness (Big Lucks, 2017)
  • They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us (Two Dollar Radio, 2017)
  • Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes on A Tribe Called Quest (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: On Basketball and Ascension (Random House, 2024)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical, music-influenced stylea blend of personal memoir and cultural criticismimage-rich and emotionally resonant prose
Recurring Motifs
music and performanceloss and griefhome (Columbus) and returnmemory and community

Legacy

Known for insightful criticism and poetry on American music and culture; re-evaluated Black performance and influenced a younger generation of poets and cultural critics.

In Popular Culture

  • Featured in Cbus Libraries' 'The People's Mural of Columbus' (commissioned 2021)
  • Launched weekly podcast 'Object of Sound' with Sonos Radio (2021)

Quotes

  • "A Little Devil in America is a catalogue of excitements."
    Source: Author's description (A Little Devil in America) (2021)
  • "The power of linking music and memory is at the heart of this book."
    Source: Publishers Weekly (review of They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us) (2017)

Trivia

  • Previously published under the name Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib.
  • Married in 2014 and divorced in 2016; returned to Columbus in 2017.
  • Received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2021.
  • Widely known for deep engagement with music and criticism of Black performance.