Jhon Sánchez

We continue with our conversation with Leo Romeo Valentino about his collection of poetry titled, my heartbreaking jibberjabber. In part I of the interview, Leo Rome Valentino says, regarding his life as a poet, “I don’t think poets are made.…

When I held the collection of poems, admiring the beautiful cover, what most caught my attention was the author’s name, ‘Leo Romeo Valentino.’ Who is so lucky to be called like that? It wasn’t just the sound of the vowels…

When interviewing someone Hispanic in the United States, I am constantly faced with the dilemma of which language to use, English or Spanish. In this case, I chose Spanish because we will talk with Guillermo Severiche about new initiatives to…

On April 3rd, Ana Maria Archila celebrated more than 40K signatures that her volunteers collected in her bid to be a Lt. Governor. The party was in Terraza 7, a bar in Jackson Heights, a well-known Colombian neighborhood in Queens,…

Ilhan Sami Çomak, the Kurdish poet who has been in a Turkish prison for the last 28 years, was awarded the Metin Altıok Poetry Prize and the Norwegian Freedom of Expression Award (shared with Ahmet Altan, writer/journalist from Turkey). The…

I first heard about the Latin American Integration Center (LAIC) in 1998. I was a newcomer then, looking for a job, looking for English classes, looking for friends. And then I heard the name of the director of LAIC: Sara…

My mother was barely a teenager when Gaitan was assassinated on April 9, 1948. His death generated a wave of political violence throughout the country. This topic and the violence that occurred, was never discussed at home. What I do…

I learned to read by reading the Bible. For me, the Bible was a giant black book with the engraved image of the Sacred Family on the cover. I used to love the words printed there with straight letters. Gold…

When I started writing this interview with Ilhan Sami Çomak, I imagined a way to escape from prison. If I were in Ilhan’s position, I think I would think about it all the time. Lacking any handyman skills, I wouldn’t…

This is the second part of our conversation with Ilhan Sami Çomak, who has been in prison for the last 27 years. Ilhan has written eight books of poetry. In part I of the interview, describing his situation, Ilhan writes:…