The Writer’s Block: A Q&A with Kwame Dawes
Kwame Dawes is a Ghanaian-born Jamaican poet, novelist, and playwright. He is the author of twenty one books of poetry and numerous books of fiction, non-fiction, criticism, and drama. Dawes is also...
View ArticleThe Writer’s Block: A Q&A with Chen Ko Hua, Alice Yousef and Henriikka Tavi
Chen Ko Hua, Alice Yousef, and Henriikka Tavi visited City of Asylum from the University of Iowa’s International Writing Workshop in September for Jazz Poetry Month. Chen Ko Hua is a poet from Taiwan,...
View ArticleThe Writer’s Block: A Q&A with Richard Blanco
Richard Blanco is a historic inaugural poet, public speaker, teacher, memoirist, and engineer. Of Cuban ethnicity but born in Spain and raised in the United States, Blanco’s national identity is...
View Article“Havanasis” by Richard Blanco
Cuban-American poet Richard Blanco reads “Havanasis” during City of Asylum’s Jazz Poetry Month. Richard Blanco‘s most recent project is a blog, Bridges to/From Cuba: Lifting the Emotional Embargo,...
View ArticleThe Writer’s Block: A Q&A with Cartoonist Vilma Vargas
Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa is not a fan of cartoonist Vilma Vargas. Her work primarily confronts human rights issues, the environment, and corruption in her country. Her politically charged...
View ArticleThe Writer’s Block: A Q&A with Sjón
Sjón is an Icelandic novelist, poet, and playwright. His latest novel, Mánasteinn– drengurinn sem aldrei var til (Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was), was published in October of 2013. His novel The...
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Censored Sounds: Mikhail Borzykin and Televizor
Throughout his career, Mikhail Borzykin has used his music to speak out against censorship and state oppression. Rock Music as Resistance Mikhail Borzykin is a Russian poet, composer, musician,...
View ArticleThe Writer’s Block: An Q&A with Clayton Eshleman
Having lived in Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Peru, France, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, Clayton Eshleman is truly a poet of the world. His work spans genres, decades, and continents, and his...
View ArticleTwo Poems Read by Ekiwah Adler-Belendez
Ekiwah Adler-Belendez’s name means “warrior” in Purépucha, an indigenous language of Mexico. Such a name is fitting for the Mexican-American poet who has learned to embrace the challenges and gifts of...
View ArticleThe Writer’s Block: A Q&A with Derek Palacio
Derek Palacio lives and teaches in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he is a faculty member at the Institute of American Indian Arts MFA program and the co-director of the Mojave School, which offers a free...
View ArticleThe Writer’s Block: A Q&A with Peter Ho Davies
Peter Ho Davies has never felt comfortable fully claiming anything. Born to a Welsh father and Chinese mother in Britain, he felt he was never fully seen as “British” when he was growing up in the UK....
View ArticleShelter: A Short Film by Mohsen Hossaini
Mohsen Hossaini is an animator, director, and painter whose powerful work is inspired by his hometown, Kabul. His art draws from his own experiences, critiquing war, traditional religion, and power,...
View ArticleCensored Sounds: “The Camp” by PJ Harvey and Ramy Essam
Egyptian rapper Ramy Essam’s music led him to become one of the lead figures at the Tahrir Square in Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution in the Spring of 2011. Several of Essam’s songs are based on...
View ArticleThe Writer’s Block: A Video Q&A with Teng Biao
Teng Biao is a lawyer, academic, and advocate. Over the course of his decades-long career, the Chinese activist has worked to stand against injustice and build the democratic future that he sees for...
View ArticleThe Writer’s Block: A Video Q&A with Dawn Lundy Martin
Dawn Lundy Martin is interested in the ways that language is a time traveller- how it lives in the past and present, and how it can be used to create a future to live within. She is the author of...
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Cartoon: Money and the News
The US Federal Communication Commission voted today to dismantle so-called net neutrality regulations which prevent broadband providers from blocking certain websites or charging for certain web...
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Cartoon: 2018
Image via Cartoon Movement. The UNHCR estimates that 1.2 million people worldwide will be forced to seek international refuge in 2018, with 500,000 of these being Syrian refugees fleeing the Syrian...
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Cartoon: “Free” Press
Image via Cartoon Movement. How free can the press be under a dictatorial regime? Cartoon by Mohsin Izadi, Iran. See more of this artist’s work at Cartoon Movement.
View ArticleWriter’s Block: Cornelius Eady
In this Writer’s Block, recorded and taped in the summer of 2019, Cornelius Eady discusses his creative influences, his writing process, and how Cave Canem has evolved over the years. Interview by...
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Douglas Ridloff at Play: The Poet Brings ASL Slam to the World
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...
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