Congo/Women, a Pittsburgh-based Space Gallery exhibit of photographs documenting the effects of gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, asks viewers “too look and to learn and then to act,” according to a statement from the exhibit’s website.
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Here on Sampsonia Way, City of Asylum writer-in-residence Khet Mar and her family marked the 65th birthday of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi by drawing and painting portraits of her. Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest due to her political involvement in the National League for Democracy in Burma. Following the publication of this post, she was release from house arrest in November 2010.
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Following the May 2010 release of Saw Wei, a Burmese poet imprisoned for two and a half years after “inducing crime against public tranquility,” Sampsonia Way writer Brian Honigman reflects on other Burmese authors imprisoned for their work.
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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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