For the first time this summer, City of Asylum created an exchange with Passa Porta, a literary organization in Brussels. It brought Paul Mennes, a Belgian writer, to Pittsburgh and sent Terrance Hayes, a National Book Award winning poet, to Brussels
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The Weekly Digest — a round-up of Sampsonia Way’s top stories — is your source for quality weekend reading.
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Toi Derricotte‘s work has been described by as “one of the most beautiful and necessary voices in American poetry today.” Derricotte was a featured poet at a reading hosted by City of Asylum Pittsburgh and Cave Canem
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In this video, Pulitzer-prize winning poet Natasha Trethewey reads at an event hosted by Cave Canem and City of Asylum Pittsburgh, which also featured poets Toi Derricotte, Cornelius Eady, and special guest Amiri Baraka.
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In this interview, poet Hind Shoufani talks about her parents’ roles as Palestinian activists in the 70s and 80s, her new film on the same subject, and the complications (and benefits) of being a poet who doesn’t call herself one.
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In this video Cornelius Eady reads his poetry at a reading hosted by Cave Canem and City of Asylum Pittsburgh. Eady has published eight books of poetry, including Brutal Imagination, a finalist for the National Book Award.
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In this video, Amiri Baraka reads his poem “Something in the way of things (In Town)” at a reading hosted by Cave Canem and City of Asylum Pittsburgh. The poem manifests Baraka’s quest for social justice.
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Amiri Baraka reads four of his poems: “In Town,” “Lowkus,” “Play Dat,” and “Who Blew Up America?” On June 23 Baraka joined poets Toi Derricotte, Cornelius Eady and Natasha Trethewey for a joint reading by Cave Canem and City of Asylum Pittsburgh.
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In this video created by Sampsonia Way magazine and published also by Rattapallax, Komunyakaa describes his revision process, talks about the importance of silence in poetry, and dispenses advice for young poets.
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Musicologist Heather Pinson talks about preparing to emcee this year’s City of Asylum’s Jazz Poetry Concert. Heather volunteered backstage at the concert last year and wrote about the experience for Sampsonia Way.
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