Hanif Abdurraqib on reading, writing & when he’s happiest

Full of heart, humour and acute insight, the book explores iconic performances that span tap dancing to punk, sport to sitcoms, and backing singers to space travel. This remarkable collection of essays is the latest book from the multi-talented Hanif Abdurraqib. A highly-acclaimed poet, he has published two previous prose pieces to great reception.

His 2017 essay collection They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us was championed as book of the year by several publications and media outlets including NPR, The Los Angeles Review and The Chicago Tribune. This was followed in 2019 by Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest which debuted on the New York Times bestseller list, and went on to be longlisted for the National Book Award. And continuing the acclaim of his previous work, A Little Devil in America, set for publication on 30 March, has already drawn high praise from writers including Marlon James, Brit Bennet, Nikesh Shukla.

On 25 March we’ll be welcoming Abdurraqib (virtually) to the Southbank Centre for a special broadcast talk with writer and performer Yomi Ṣode. Ahead of that appearance we caught up with the author to find out how he approached selecting the Black performances to feature in A Little Devil in America, and why he’s about to settle in to watch a lot of turn-of-the-millennium basketball.

Poet, essayist, cultural critic, author. You’ve earned a lot of prefixes, which one best fits for who you are now? And which are you happiest being?

I think I’m happiest being a music fan who kind of gets to sit at home among my records, reading liner notes while spinning some tunes. That brings me closer to who I am than anything else does, I think.

It’s been a year now since you last read in front of a non-virtual audience; are you missing it? And what would be your perfect post-lockdown event to perform at, host or attend? 

I do miss it, even though I admit that I have quite loved being at home and settling into a quiet routine. I don’t necessarily miss the act of reading, but I do miss the connection – being able to talk to people and build the little emotional bridges that carry me back to the work. I’d love to read at a house show again someday, when it’s safe.

For Go Ahead in the Rain and A Little Devil in America you draw on personal experience to frame your subjects; is this a conscious approach to help draw in the reader, or is it just your natural way of exploring a topic? 

It’s natural, mostly. Understanding that my personal experience, in some way, links with history. 

How hard was it to whittle down the moments and instances of Black performance you wanted to highlight in A Little Devil in America? Are there any you’d wish you’d been able to include, but couldn’t find a place for? 

I think it quite simply just came down to the things I couldn’t get off of my mind, or the things I really enjoyed returning to. This was such a visually-driven book. And so I spent a lot of time in visual archives, mining for things that pushed me towards excitement.

I know you’re not one for self promotion, but you’ve had some wonderful quotes about the new book from some wonderful people; which of these meant the most to you? 

I honestly am not sure! I am honoured by all of them, though I can’t look too long at them, because I get so nervous. So I have to say that I don’t really know the quotes that well, but am thankful for all of them!

Ordinarily we’d ask what’s next, but you’ve already announced your next book, There’s Always Next Year, on the basketball landscape of the 1990s and early 2000s. What drew you to that as a topic, and where are you at in the process of writing it? 

I’m only a couple of chapters in, but have already ordered a ton of old basketball game footage from the late 1990s and early 2000s. I’ve long been thinking of sport as it connects to the American machinery, and I’m excited to dive into this. 

Interview by Glen Wilson