Hanif Abdurraqib Reading
Nonfiction writer and poet Hanif Abdurraqib’s reading on November 17th illustrated the nuances of everyday life through his layered piece which examined the ceremony of funerals and the joys that can be found after the death of those who were admired. The piece Abdurraqib read was excerpted from his 2021 forthcoming book, A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, which discusses the lives and legacies of Black performers in America throughout history. Hanif Abdurraqib’s reading reminded nonfiction writers and lovers that this genre has the ability to transform a topic as tragic as death into an opportunity for gratitude through a new perspective found through language. Abdurraqib captured his audience with the immediacy in which he delivered his work, the rawness of his subject matter, and through the weaving in of his personal experiences.
