Hanif Abdurraqib Named Nonfiction Editor of Ploughshares

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(September 2, 2025) BOSTON, MA—Ploughshares has announced award-winning essayist, poet, and MacArthur Fellow Hanif Abdurraqib as its first-ever Nonfiction Editor.

Ploughshares, one of the country’s most prestigious literary magazines, has been based at Emerson College in downtown Boston since 1989. Founded in 1971, the publication features poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and has published essays by literary greats including Robert Pinsky, Sam Cornish, Ann Hood, Toi Derricotte, and Lia Purpura. Essays published in Ploughshares have received awards and recognition from numerous prizes and anthologies, including the Best American Essays series and the Pushcart Prize. 

Hanif 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 have been published in The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. His books include There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, and A Fortune for Your Disaster. He’s also the host of the podcast “Object of Sound.” Hanif is a graduate of Beechcroft High School.

“I have long admired Hanif Abdurraqib’s work, which is at once formidable and tenderhearted, challenging and compelling,” says Jenny Molberg, Ploughshares Editor-in-chief. “As a writer whose work bridges storytelling and poetry with thoughtfully researched commentary on music, sports, and current events, his reach extends to varied corners of the literary world. Community is woven into the fabric of Ploughshares’ history: each story, poem, and essay we publish contributes to a shared humanity, a composition of voices and verses. Hanif is a deeply compassionate and community-driven artist, and his inclusion on our staff only amplifies these collaborative goals. It is an honor and a privilege to work alongside him, and I’m thrilled for the future of Ploughshares.”