American writer Hanif Abdurraqib has been honored with the 2026 Weston International Award, a prestigious accolade accompanied by a $75,000 prize. This award serves as a companion to the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, an annual recognition given to a Canadian author for a single nonfiction work.
The Weston International Award celebrates the outstanding career achievements of an international writer in the nonfiction genre. To be eligible, international authors must have published a minimum of three books of exceptional literary quality in English or widely available translations.
Hanif Abdurraqib, a renowned poet, essayist, and cultural critic, is recognized for his insightful writings on music, sports, Black culture, and social justice. Among his notable works are “There’s Always This Year,” which delves into basketball, race, and American society and received the National Books Critics Circle Award. Additionally, his works “A Little Devil in America” and “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” have garnered acclaim, with the former winning the Carnegie Medal.
Abdurraqib’s poetry collections, “The Crown Ain’t Worth Much” and “A Fortune for Your Disaster,” have also been well-received. His accolades include being named a MacArthur Fellow in 2021 and a recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize in 2024. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Abdurraqib will be delivering a talk at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto on September 14 to discuss his career and literary contributions.
The selection of Hanif Abdurraqib as the Weston International Award winner was made by an international advisory committee and a Canadian jury. The committee included PBS arts correspondent Jeffery Brown, British Iranian author and The Guardian literary editor David Shariatmadari, and Nigerian author and publisher Lola Shoneyin. The Canadian jury comprised author Dean Jobb, filmmaker Chase Joynt, author Tess McWatt, scholar Christina Sharpe, and author Jenny Heijun Wills.
The jury praised Abdurraqib for his ability to authentically capture the essence of Black life through various forms of expression, such as performance, music, and sports. His work skillfully addresses societal issues while showcasing a deep connection to people, places, and themes like love and social inequality.
Notably, last year’s recipient of the award was American author Leslie Jamison. The Writers’ Trust of Canada, a charitable organization established in 1976 by notable literary figures, including Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, and Margaret Laurence, aims to support and celebrate Canadian writers through various initiatives, literary awards, grants, and career development programs.
