On Friday, April 8, 2022, poet, music critic, essayist, and New York Times best-selling author Hanif Abdurraqib will speak to the Grandview Heights High School student body about writing, music, and growing up in Columbus.

 

This event is sponsored by the Bobcat Anti-racism Collective, a student-led initiative, and is part of a Speaker Series designed to bring diverse voices and experiences to Grandview Heights Schools students. The hope is to simply create opportunities to hear from various people and professionals whose life experiences and career pursuits might introduce students to new and/or interesting perspectives. The school is honored to welcome a writer of Abdurraqib’s caliber and success and is excited about the opportunities his visit offers to our students.

 

A graduate of Beechcroft High School and Capital University,  Abdurraqib rose to notoriety through his writing about music and culture—in publications such as The New Yorker, Billboard, Bleacher Report, and The New York Times—and through his poetry. Most recently, his essay collection, A Little Devil in America, won the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the Gordon Burn Prize.  The book was also a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. 

 

The MacArthur Foundation recently named Abdurraqib a MacArthur Fellow, saying that he is “forging a distinctive style of cultural and artistic criticism through the lens of popular music and autobiography.” Apart from his writing endeavors, Hanif is a renowned Columbus Crew superfan and an unashamed lover of sneakers.

To read more about Hanif Abdurraqib, visit his website