Hanif Abdurraqib’s “There’s Always This Year” Book Launch and Reflection

On Monday, March 25th (waves hand at the busy-ness of life), Hanif Abdurraqib launched the tour of his latest book, There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension. At the King Arts Complex on the East Side of Columbus, Ohio, Abdurraqib read excerpts from the book, engaged in a wide-ranging conversation with a friend/mentor, and answered (antlered?) questions from a packed house.

Hanif—quoting Wiki here—is a “poet, essayist, and cultural critic.” Accordingly, he writes poems, essays, and cultural criticism. For his work, he has received a MacArthur Fellowship, a Carnegie Medal, and a National Book Award longlist. Not too shabby.

Importantly for us, basketball is often on the margins of…