Slideshow: Most-Read Interviews of 2012

• Bamboo City: A New Book by Venezuelan Writer Israel Centeno

   

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  “It’s a book about a lonely man with many questions. It’s about melancholy and the feelings of sexuality.” -Venezuelan writer-in-exile Israel Centeno

  Bamboo City: A New Book by Venezuelan Writer Israel Centeno">

• The State of Journalism in Guatemala Today: Interview with Lucía Escobar

   

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  “If the government does not pay attention soon, anarchy will begin to take hold of the country.” - Guatemalan journalist Lucía Escobar

  The State of Journalism in Guatemala Today: Interview with Lucía Escobar">

• The Apocalypse Has Been Moved… To the Northside

   

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  "We offer a dingy room and a bunch of people that are excited about doing fairly different things. That is a lot to some people; that is what some people need, apparently."-Cyberpunk Apocalypse founder Daniel McCloskey

  The Apocalypse Has Been Moved… To the Northside">

• Kuwaiti Artist Shurooq Amin On Shutdown of “It’s a Man’s World” Show

   

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  "It is the first time in the history of Kuwait that an entire exhibition was shut down on the spot with no legal warrant." -Kuwaiti artist Shurooq Amin

  Kuwaiti Artist Shurooq Amin On Shutdown of “It’s a Man’s World” Show">

• “In Mexico, they kill you twice”: Interview with filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz

   

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  "I was talking to a veteran US reporter from the Dallas Morning News named Alfredo Corchado, and he said to me that in Mexico they kill you twice: first they kill you and then they kill your name."-Filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz

  “In Mexico, they kill you twice”: Interview with filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz">

• “Freedom is becoming the only theme”: An Interview with Jan Švankmajer

   

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  “Currently, it is not really the ideology that corrupts artists, but the art market itself that acts anti-ideologically.” -Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer

  “Freedom is becoming the only theme”: An Interview with Jan Švankmajer">

• “This is who I am.” A conversation with Poet Keorapetse Kgositsile

   

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  "…there were laws that attempted to control every aspect of human action and interaction, up to who you could laugh with, how you could do it, who you could fall in love with…”-South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile

  “This is who I am.” A conversation with Poet Keorapetse Kgositsile">

• Unspoken History: An Interview with Finnish Poet Tommi Parkko

   

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  "If poetry has a worldly social significance, then the ideas of the poet should come from them, from inside, instead of from the outside."- Finnish Poet Tommi Parko

  Unspoken History: An Interview with Finnish Poet Tommi Parkko">

• Rayma: the Cartoonist of a Faceless President

   

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  "Black humor, if not the best company, is a sign; it shows that things are going wrong. Criticism always helps us understand the conditions in which we currently live."- Venezuelan cartoonist Rayma Suprani

  Rayma: the Cartoonist of a Faceless President">

• “Poetry is always spoken”: An interview with TJ Dema

   

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  "It seems to be in the people’s DNA to listen to poetry; people’s ears are much more attuned to it." -Batswana poet TJ Dema

  “Poetry is always spoken”: An interview with TJ Dema">

• Thomas Sayers Ellis: Keeping the Folk Tradition Alive

   

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  "I think that it’s time that literature isn’t governed solely by certain types of intelligence because we’re leaving things out. We’re hurting because we don’t listen high and low."- African-American poet Thomas Sayers Ellis

  Thomas Sayers Ellis: Keeping the Folk Tradition Alive">

• “So I Became a Witness”: An interview with Nikky Finney

   

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  "I love the feeling of the hand on the page trying to hold one’s imagination, compressed into some sort of shape." - African-American Poet Nikky Finney

  “So I Became a Witness”: An interview with Nikky Finney">

• “Words are Weapons of the Strong”: An Interview with Nikki Giovanni

   

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  "The power to control what you think and what you say is the power to define you. Words are the weapons of the strong; swords are the weapons of the weak."- African American Poet Nikki Giovanni

  “Words are Weapons of the Strong”: An Interview with Nikki Giovanni">

• Social Media is our main source of news about what is happening in Syria

   

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  "The world is seeing live footage of what is happening in Homs now and no one cares. They’ve done nothing!"-Syrian cyberactivist Syrian Thinker

  Social Media is our main source of news about what is happening in Syria">

• A conversation with Moroccan novelist Abdellah Taïa

   

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  "You have to find your fault in language, even when you speak and write in your mother tongue. To find a literary style, language has to become something strange."- Moroccan poet Abdellah Taïa

  A conversation with Moroccan novelist Abdellah Taïa">

• Burmese Writer Hnin Pan Ein Speaks about a Country of Heroes in the Dark

   

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  "We are the ones who are moving against the current. We are called humanitarians because we try to show the truth with our lives." -Burmese writer Hnin Pan Ein

  Burmese Writer Hnin Pan Ein Speaks about a Country of Heroes in the Dark">

It’s been the privilege of Sampsonia Way to speak with many innovative authors and artists over the last year. These discussions covered a wide range of topics including the creative process, art as activism, and the struggle and importance of freedom of expression.

As the New Year approaches, we revisit sixteen of the most read interviews of 2012. Click on the links in the title to see the full length interview