Atop the list of nominees for nonfiction works is Hanif Abdurraqib's best-selling Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest. According to The NBF, it is the first nonfiction work centered on hip-hop to be nominated in the category.
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Released in mid-February, Abdurraqib's third book is comprised hip-hop history lessons, critical essays and literal love letters to the group, depicting an obsessive, at times heartbreaking, infatuation with Q-Tip and the late Phife Dawg in particular. Go Ahead In The Rain follows Abdurraqib's first collection of essays, They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, and his debut collection of poetry, The Crown Ain't Worth Much, both of which remain critical darlings along with his latest work.
Abdurraqib shares a spot on the list with 9 other authors, which will be narrowed down to five finalists on October 8th. Winners for each category (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people's literature) will be announced on November 20th.
See the full list of nominees below and hold tight for the shortlist to be announced. You can pick up a copy of Hanif Abdurraqib' Go Ahead in The Rain via Indiebound today.
