Totalitarianism. The night when it is eternalaches like a knife woundfreshly sharpenedthe question is knowing (how) to survivewithout the ritual magic of the dawn. Totalitarismo. La noche cuando es eternaduele como una herida de cuchillorecién afiladola cuestión es aprender a sobrevivirsin el mágico ritual del alba. A single blow. I’m ...

The architect of "The Everyday Pandemic" talks about the complexities of isolation in the pandemic experience. Simten Coşar is the Associate Editor of Sampsonia Way Magazine and is the architect of our newest series "The Everyday Pandemic." She is a former Scholar-at-Risk and a Visiting Professor at the University of ...

On foreignness, fear, and steel — and how the author experienced exile in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simten Coşar and her dog Dört by the sea. To my father, Ergün Coşar (1934 – 2020) I arrived in Pittsburgh on a cold January evening, after a long sunny ...

How a community of students and educators in York, Pennsylvania, reversed a book ban, demanded a more inclusive education, and found a home within each other. Central York students protest the school board's ban on anti-racist literature. (Photo courtesy of PARU.) ORIGINS OF A BOOK BAN In the summer of ...

In his English-language debut, Tuhin Das reveals the extraordinary in the ordinary. Religious intolerance. Racist indoctrination. Violence against anyone who dares to speak out. This was the life of injustice Tuhin Das fled in Bangladesh, and it's the backdrop upon which he's crafted his debut English-language collection Exile Poems: In ...

Tuhin Das discusses the craft of his newest House Publication on Sampsonia Way — and celebrates the release of his first English-language book. Photo by Tom Little In November 2021, Bangladeshi writer Tuhin Das completed the design of his own House Publication — which he’s titled “Comma House” — joining ...

Mai Khoi is a songwriter, pop star, and activist who uses her platform to fight against censorship in her home country Vietnam. Through music, she explains both her love and frustration for Vietnam and why she uses her voice for change rather than fame. Known as the “Lady Gaga of ...

Over the years, féi hernandez has learned how to channel their magic into the art ofbecoming Hood Criatura: a beautiful beast — half magic, half person. Through their breakthrough poetry collection, Hood Criatura, féi hernandez illustrates their experiences as a queer, trans, and immigrant adolescent. hernandez describes their debut collection ...

Fatemeh Ekhtesari is an Iranian poet, artist, and human rights activist who was forced to flee Iran after she was charged with “insulting sanctities” in her poetry and sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison and 99 lashes. Now in Lillehammer, Norway, Ekhtesari is working on a collection of personal ...

Amira Al-Sharif is an independent photojournalist from Yemen who has dedicated her career to documenting the lives and fortitude of women. In her photos, she finds beauty where others see pain. Through her photographs, she invites her viewers into a world of beauty and emotional complexity. With her thoughtful attention ...

In the months following the mysterious disappearance of Saudi-Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, Khashoggi’s colleagues at the Washington Post ran full-page ads that asked the question: “Where is Jamal?” Around the same time, The National Inquirer leaked sexually explicit texts by Amazon ...

Bewketu Seyoum is an Ethiopian poet, novelist, and socio-political satirist. He is the author of four volumes of poetry, two novels, two collections of short fiction, and numerous essays. Currently, he’s an ICORN Writer-In-Residence at Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum, where he’s recently completed a book of poems about life in ...

Poetry is art that survives the heartbeat of its potter. From prehistoric engravings to pixelated images dancing across smartphone screens, its evolution is dynamic and fluid, creating spaces for those who are in danger of being silenced. It is in this spirit that American Sign Language (ASL) poetry has grown ...

This poem was written in response to the killings of unarmed African Americans, including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Flowers for the Wretched Lady Libertyyour huddled masses have arrivedand we can’t breathe.Lady LibertyYou need glassesto see that the shackles around your ankleare still strangling us.You need to say ...

Identity and Community in the Latinx & Proud! series One mid-February evening, an audience gathers in City of Asylum’s cozy Word Cellar for the third installment of the Latinx & Proud! series. Staff members squeeze extra chairs behind the back rows to make room for latecomers. Chatter rises to the ...

The following conversation is part of an ongoing series called Memories in Exile, in which we interview current and former resident writers who have come to Pittsburgh and lived in exile on Sampsonia Way. The series is in celebration of City of Asylum/Pittsburgh’s 15th year, capturing the diverse experiences of ...

The following conversation is part of an ongoing series called Memories in Exile, in which we interview current and former resident writers who have come to Pittsburgh and lived in exile on Sampsonia Way. The series is in celebration of City of Asylum/Pittsburgh’s 15th year, capturing the diverse experiences of ...

The magnificent and ever-enthralling political cartoonist Pedro X. Molina is currently an artist in residence at Ithaca City of Asylum and a visiting international scholar in the Ithaca College Honors Program. As an international cartoonist, his work has been featured in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and ...

The following conversation is part of an ongoing series called Memories in Exile, in which we interview current and former resident writers who have come to Pittsburgh and lived in exile on Sampsonia Way. The series is in celebration of City of Asylum/Pittsburgh’s 15th year, capturing the diverse experiences of ...

The following conversation is part of an ongoing series called Memories in Exile, in which we interview current and former resident writers who have come to Pittsburgh and lived in exile on Sampsonia Way. The series is in celebration of City of Asylum/Pittsburgh’s 15th year, capturing the diverse experiences of ...