American writer Hanif Abdurraqib has been honored with the 2026 Weston International Award, which comes with a prize of $75,000. This prestigious award complements the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, an annual recognition given to a Canadian author for a singular nonfiction work. The Weston International Award acknowledges the exceptional career achievements of an international author in the realm of nonfiction. To qualify, international authors must have published a minimum of three books of remarkable literary quality in the nonfiction genre, written in English or widely available in translation.
Hanif Abdurraqib, a poet, essayist, and cultural critic, is renowned for his insightful commentary on music, sports, Black culture, and social justice. His notable works include “There’s Always This Year,” which delves into basketball, race relations, and American society, earning him the National Books Critics Circle Award. Additionally, his book “A Little Devil in America” explores Black performance, securing the Carnegie Medal, while “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” is a collection of music-infused essays. Abdurraqib has also authored poetry collections such as “The Crown Ain’t Worth Much” and “A Fortune for Your Disaster.”
In recognition of his exceptional contributions, Abdurraqib was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2021 and received the Windham-Campbell Prize in 2024. Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, Abdurraqib was selected as the Weston International Award recipient by an esteemed international advisory committee and a Canadian jury. The international advisory committee comprised PBS arts correspondent Jeffery Brown, British Iranian author and The Guardian’s literary editor David Shariatmadari, and Nigerian author and literary festival director Lola Shoneyin.
The Canadian jury members included author and professor Dean Jobb, nonfiction writer and filmmaker Chase Joynt, author Tess McWatt, author and scholar Christina Sharpe, and author Jenny Heijun Wills. Praising Abdurraqib’s work, the jury emphasized his talent in capturing the essence of Black life through various forms of expression, such as music, performance, and sports. They highlighted his unique ability to challenge false narratives, uplift marginalized voices, and convey powerful messages like “they can’t kill us until they kill us.”
Abdurraqib is slated to deliver a talk at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto on September 14 to discuss his career and literary works. Tickets for the event can be obtained from the Weston International Award website. Notably, the previous year’s recipient of the award was American author Leslie Jamison. The Writers’ Trust of Canada, a charitable organization established in 1976 by literary luminaries Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laurence, and David Young, aims to support, promote, and celebrate Canadian writers through various initiatives, including literary awards, grants, and career development programs.
