VC2 Top Contenders US | June 12, 2007 | 32 comments

Sampsonia Way: City of Asylum

Josetxu
City of Asylum/Pittsburgh provides sanctuary to writers exiled under threat of death, imprisonment, or persecution in their native countries.
Writer/painter Huang Xiang is considered to be the pre-eminent post cultural revolution poet of China. His unceasing bravery, in the face of sure re-imprisonment, and further torture, forced him to leave his homeland.
Huang Xiang was born in Hunan Province, China, in 1941.
Huang began writing poems in the 1950s and has been imprisoned repeatedly for his work. In 1978, he founded ?Enlightenment,? the first underground writers? society, and started a literary magazine with the same title. In exile in the United States since 1997, he is currently resident poet in Pittsburgh under the Cities of Asylum program for writers
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32 comments // Sampsonia Way: City of Asylum // Video

  • tangpeizhu
    • +1
      tangpeizhu  
    • Image

    • I'm a young chinese student,I didn't know the miserrable story of HUang Xiang,and even dont know the poetry,I come here because I'm preparing my final exams ,when i 'm finding some matiarials about some chinese in exile,and i'm so lucky that I come across this video.I'm so shocked,and I cried。Huang Xiang,you are so brave,I admire you!and i hope I can go to america to meet Huang.
      I dont know how to download the video,anyone can help me?pls mail me,tangpeizhu@gmai.com,thank you!

    • 2 years ago
  • tapunk
  • Jackpat0103
  • Fenlon
    • 0
      Fenlon  

    • Thank you for giving him voice in this way. His presence really comes through.

      It would have been very easy to bury him in hubris. Congratulations on the excellent work.

    • 4 years ago
  • ambulantic
  • mbgoofy
  • lautoncortes
  • juandelkan
  • dkay19
    • 0
      dkay19  

    • that was really good..i have two question. 1. if he lives in america then why dont he speak in english?
      2. where does he lives in pittsburgh? i would like to kno that.

    • 4 years ago
  • twodee
  • brady77lew
  • peahayes
  • One2three7
    • 0
      One2three7  

    • very well produced and very interesting. Just think you need to shorten it an current will air it.
      GREENLIGHT!!!

      check out my pod " a window to my world" about my life with an inborn genetic disorder

    • 4 years ago
  • aliass
  • no1jagsfan
  • pattykl
  • soysos
  • sfrtpro
  • sfrtpro
  • johnwessling
  • amandapa
  • dlapietra
    • 0
      dlapietra  

    • I am proud to know that the City of Asylum has taken root in my home city, and that Huang Xiang has been able to find his voice again there. I am grateful that my sister, who still resides in Pittsburgh sent this to me in Chicago. Spread the word.

    • 4 years ago
  • alhelger
    • 0
      alhelger  

    • When we see Huang Xiang's story and how he did not have freedom to publish, we have to enusre that this does not happen in America. How quickly freedom can be lost and something like the Patriot Act can restrict freedom. His story is a warning and an inspiration.

    • 4 years ago
  • stilz1
  • daflew
  • pmcmorrow
    • 0
      pmcmorrow  

    • A powerful profile of the suffering in our world as we live in the present. It serves to awaken our minds and hopefully dispel our apathy towards our fellow men who share our planet but not our many rights and responsibilities of freedom.

    • 4 years ago
  • MudDuck
  • rawbird
  • twodee
    • 0
      twodee  

    • GL WOW! Huang is a gem! You did such a beautiful job presenting him. Fantastic images and i LOVED the music! I would not make this any shorter. I was taken as in dream with this.

      please take a moment to see our two pods on a sustainable future.
      about electric vehicles> link
      about solar energy> link

    • 4 years ago
  • JackErdie
    • 0
      JackErdie  

    • I liked the feeling I had of flying over a lovely, yet somehow desolate landscape. The combination of angles, interspersed photos, and poetry seemed to embody the loneliness of this savant artists' soul. It depicts the difference between the behavior of one who is aimlessly insane and the one who, like this subject, is driven by supernal insight, talent, and personal quest, to the strange borders of new consciousness.

    • 4 years ago
  • abencomo
  • angelwild327
    • 0
      angelwild327  

    • simply fascinating. I think it will be a bit long for most viewers, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you for letting him tell his story. Well done..GL for that.

    • 4 years ago
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