Author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib. Photo: Joshua A Bickel / Columbus Dispat
Author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib. Photo: Joshua A Bickel / Columbus Dispat
Author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib. Photo: Joshua A Bickel / Columbus Dispat
Author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib. Photo: Joshua A Bickel / Columbus Dispat

Hanif Abdurraqib and Tom Lin receive Carnegie literary awards


  • English
  • Arabic

Receiving a literary prize from the American Library Association is a kind of homecoming for essayist-poet Hanif Abdurraqib.

“When I was young, I treated the library as a place to pass time, to get lost in books that I could have otherwise not afforded to own, music that I could not have afforded to have,” said Abdurraqib, 38, a recipient of an Andrew Carnegie Medal for his A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, in a recent interview.

Hanif Abdurraqib's latest collection of essays, released in March. AP
Hanif Abdurraqib's latest collection of essays, released in March. AP

On Sunday, the library association awarded Abdurraqib the Medal for Excellence in non-fiction and gave the fiction prize to Tom Lin, 25, the youngest ever Carnegie winner, for his debut novel The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu. Each author received $5,000 and will be honoured in June at the association's annual conference.

Abdurraqib who was born in Columbus, Ohio, credits the library system as a thread throughout his life, whether as quiet place for his imagination, a refuge during times he was short of money or a source for a favourite book. He currently lives near the Martin Luther King Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library and stops by often.

“I made a conscious decision to cut down on the amount of books in my home over the past two years, which means I get to return to the delight of getting books from the library – being on a waiting list and getting the email that my time has come,” he says. “All of that stuff. It’s like returning to the version of myself that looked at the place with a sense of endless wonder, which is cool.”

Abdurraqib's other books include the poetry collections The Crown Ain't Worth Much and A Fortune for Your Disaster. Last year, he was named as a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.

Tom Lin's debut novel, released in June. AP
Tom Lin's debut novel, released in June. AP

Lin also has vivid library memories, notably of the children's section in the Flushing branch of the Queens Borough Public Library in New York City, “this beautiful triangular building", and a favourite chair that was so high his feet barely touched the ground. Now a PhD student in English at the University of California, Davis, he makes frequent use of the campus library, “walking in with a stack of books to return and walking out with an equally tall stack of new books to read”.

“Nearly all of my research happens through the library, and that’s really not an exaggeration,” he says. “Since I’m beginning work on my dissertation, I’ll only be spending yet more time in the library in months and years to come – and I could not be more excited about it.”

The Carnegie medals were established in 2012, enabled in part by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Previous winners include James McBride, Jennifer Egan and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

How the bonus system works

The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.

The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.

There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).

All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.

Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)

Nancy Ajram

(In2Musica)

SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY

Wimbledon order of play on Saturday, July 8
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)

Centre Court (4pm)
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Timea Bacsinszky (19)
Ernests Gulbis v Novak Djokovic (2)
Mischa Zverev (27) v Roger Federer (3)

Court 1 (4pm)
Milos Raonic (6) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (25)
Anett Kontaveit v Caroline Wozniacki (5)
Dominic Thiem (8) v Jared Donaldson

Court 2 (2.30pm)
Sorana Cirstea v Garbine Muguruza (14)
To finish: Sam Querrey (24) leads Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-5
Angelique Kerber (1) v Shelby Rogers
Sebastian Ofner v Alexander Zverev (10)

Court 3 (2.30pm)
Grigor Dimitrov (13) v Dudi Sela
Alison Riske v Coco Vandeweghe (24)
David Ferrer v Tomas Berdych (11)

Court 12 (2.30pm)
Polona Hercog v Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
Gael Monfils (15) v Adrian Mannarino

Court 18 (2.30pm)
Magdalena Rybarikova v Lesia Tsurenko
Petra Martic v Zarina Diyas

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

Quick%20facts
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EStorstockholms%20Lokaltrafik%20(SL)%20offers%20free%20guided%20tours%20of%20art%20in%20the%20metro%20and%20at%20the%20stations%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EThe%20tours%20are%20free%20of%20charge%3B%20all%20you%20need%20is%20a%20valid%20SL%20ticket%2C%20for%20which%20a%20single%20journey%20(valid%20for%2075%20minutes)%20costs%2039%20Swedish%20krone%20(%243.75)%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ETravel%20cards%20for%20unlimited%20journeys%20are%20priced%20at%20165%20Swedish%20krone%20for%2024%20hours%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAvoid%20rush%20hour%20%E2%80%93%20between%209.30%20am%20and%204.30%20pm%20%E2%80%93%20to%20explore%20the%20artwork%20at%20leisure%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
Six large-scale objects on show
  • Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
  • The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
  • A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
  • Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
  • A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
  • Torrijos Palace dome
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Company profile

Company: Verity

Date started: May 2021

Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech

Size: four team members

Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000

Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors

England's lowest Test innings

- 45 v Australia in Sydney, January 28, 1887

- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994

- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009

- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948

- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888

- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018

RACECARD

4.30pm Jebel Jais – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (Turf) 1,000m
5pm: Jabel Faya – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (T) 1,000m
5.30pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep – Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club – Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m

Updated: January 24, 2022, 5:22 AM