They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us at Housing Works/Bookstore Cafe-Soho Events

By Housing Works

Mar 5  |  Culture

Soho Events

In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Abdurraqib‘s is a voice that matters. Whether he’s attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown’s grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly.

In the wake of the nightclub attacks in Paris, he recalls how he sought refuge as a teenager in music, at shows, and wonders whether the next generation of young Muslims will not be afforded that opportunity now. While discussing the everyday threat to the lives of black Americans, Abdurraqib recounts the first time he was ordered to the ground by police officers: for attempting to enter his own car.

In essays that have been published by the New York Times, MTV, and Pitchfork, among others—along with original, previously unreleased essays—Abdurraqib uses music and culture as a lens through which to view our world, so that we might better understand ourselves, and in so doing proves himself a bellwether for our times.

He’ll be joined by the New Yorker’s Doreen St. Félix to discuss this collection, which has been described as a “much-needed collection for our time” (Juan Vidal, NPR), and “erudite writing from an author struggling to find meaning through music” (Kirkus).

(Doreen St. Félix photo credit Christopher Allen)

Doreen St. Félix is a staff writer at The New Yorker. Previously, she was a culture writer at MTV News and an editor-at-large at Lenny. Her writing has appeared in the Times Magazine, New York, Vogue, The Fader, and Pitchfork. She tweets from @dstfelix.

Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in Muzzle, Vinyl, PEN American, and various other journals. His essays and music criticism has been published in The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. His first full length collection, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much, was released in June 2016 from Button Poetry, and was named a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book prize. With Big Lucks, he released a limited edition chapbook, Vintage Sadness, in summer 2017 (you cannot get it anymore and he is very sorry.) His first collection of essays, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, is being released in winter 2017 by Two Dollar Radio. He is a Callaloo Creative Writing Fellow, an interviewer at Union Station Magazine, and a poetry editor at Muzzle  Magazine.  He is a member of the poetry collective Echo Hotel with poet/essayist Eve Ewing.

Additionally, he is a columnist at MTV News, where he writes about music, and fights to get Room Raiders back on the air. He thinks poems can change the world, but really wants to talk to you about music, sports, and sneakers. He tweets from @NifMuhammad.

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