I want to ask you about a topic that i know almost nothing about, which is a writing and publishing poetry. So some of the moments in your essays, particularly where you will often be deep in a historical rabbit hole. And then there'll be a hard cut to a very personal anecdote from your own life. What do those moments achieve for you? And what other parts of poetry do you feel like bring into your approach to writing? Well, i mean, i think those moments are just me paying homage to the ability to write as i would speak.
Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and critic whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and many other publications. His new book is A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance.
“I learn from hearing my elders tell stories. There’s an inherent knowing of yourself as a vessel for narration who also has to—is required to—hold the attention of others at all costs. And that’s essentially what I’m trying to do. The broader project of my writing is almost a constant pleading of: Don’t leave yet. Stay here with me for just a little bit longer.”
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