This video shows highlights of the 2010 Jazz Poetry Concert in which Yusef Komunyakaa, Horacio Castellanos Moya, Khet Mar, Huang Xiang, Hinemoana Baker, and Maryia Martysevich read their work to the musical accompaniment of a 16-piece ensemble led by jazz legend Oliver Lake.
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Translated by Michelle Yeh Before the Tiananmen Massacre took place on June 4, 1989, I had been engaged in literary activities at five universities in Beijing. In 1987, I was charged with “disturbing peace of society” …
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Sampsonia Way is pleased to present a series of interviews with writers from all over the world who have participated in International Cities if Refugee Network (ICORN). By way of introduction we present this interview with ICORN Executive Director, Helge Lunde. Here he tells the story of ICORN’s founding, how it has provided support for persecuted writers, and what inspires him to do this work.
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For the Iraqi translator and poet Soheil Najm, poetry offers an opportunity to start a conversation across cultural barriers. Najm is the co-editor of Flowers of Flame: Unheard Voices of Iraq, an anthology of Iraqi poets in translation. He has also translated selections of work by Nikos Kazantzakis, Alasdair Gray, Ted Hughes, and Jose Saramago. Soheil Najm presents Ra’ad Zamil’s poem, offering a glimpse into the struggles of a generation of Iraqis who have survived Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship and are trying to make a life in Iraqi’s nascent democracy.
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This past Thursday Cave Canem held writers’ workshops in City of Asylum/Pittsburgh’s houses. That evening, they attended a reading by Colleen J. McElroy, Carl Phillips, Claudia Rankine, and Sapphire under a tent on Monterrey Street.
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City of Asylum/Pittsburgh presents Poetry on the Northside, a free poetry reading featuring Cave Canem poets Colleen J. McElroy, Carl Phillips, Claudia Rankine, and Sapphire.
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This week’s featured poet is Toi Derricotte. As both a nationally-recognized poet and English professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Derricotte co-founded Cave Canem and serves on the board of directors for City of Asylum/Pittsburgh. Cave Canem offers a home for African-American poetry and aims to help colored poets grow both artistically and professionally.
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Moniro Ravanipour is an Iranian author and writer-in-residence at the City of Asylum Las Vegas. Ravanipour was detained and interrogated by the Iranian government after a reading of one of her eight published books. In this video interview, Ravanipour discusses Iranian censorship, the political situation, and their effects on her writing.
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Than Htay Maung works on 324 Sampsonia Way most sunny days, painting an enormous mural that blends images of his native Burma with his new home of Pittsburgh.
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Arriving here in March 2009, Khet Mar, City of Asylum/Pittsburgh’s current writer-in-residence, journeyed with her family on a 45-hour trip from her home in Rangoon, Burma all the way to Sampsonia Way. Living with her husband Than Htay Maung and two sons, Khet Mar has resided on Sampsonia Way now for just over a year.
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Sampsonia Way's companion guide to City of Asylum’s Exiled Voice of China and Tibet literary event, featuring standout pieces from its three year coverage of exiled and persecuted writers. READ
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