Press & Interviews
This section gathers English-language writing about Ryszard Kapuściński and interviews he gave — obituaries, reviews, essays and long-form conversations published in the international press between 1986 and 2010.
Here you will find the pieces that shaped how Kapuściński was read outside Poland: Michael T. Kaufman’s obituary in The New York Times, Adam Hochschild’s “Magic Journalism” and Neal Ascherson’s essay in The New York Review of Books, John Ryle’s long critique in the Times Literary Supplement, the Slate exchange between Jack Shafer and Meghan O’Rourke over the truth of his reportage, and Bill Buford’s Granta interview.
Together they form the English-language record of both the admiration and the argument that surrounded the work of Poland’s best-known reporter.
Interviews with Kapuscinski
Conversations on reportage, travel and the craft of journalism
Press articles
Articles, reviews and essays from the international press
Recently added
Writing About Suffering
Ryszard Kapuscinski on writing about suffering — an interview on his working method and on the book Imperium.
An Interview by Bill Buford
Ryszard Kapuscinski talks to Bill Buford in Granta about his childhood in Pinsk, its international community and the beginnings of his writing life.
Fact, Fiction and Kapuscinski
Robert Mackey in The New York Times' Lede blog on the controversy around Artur Domoslawski's biography of Kapuscinski.
War Correspondent, Author Ryszard Kapuscinski
The Washington Post on Ryszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist who covered 27 revolutions and became a master of literary journalism.
Third World chronicler Kapuscinski dies
Ryszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist and author who documented the world's conflicts, has died at the age of 74.
The Illuminated Letters Of a Polish Journalist
The Washington Post on Ryszard Kapuscinski, whose reportage from Africa and Latin America changed what journalism could be.
Ryszard Kapuscinski: A Worlds Reporter
The life and work of Ryszard Kapuscinski, the world's reporter, who gave himself to documenting human history and the struggle for human rights.
Ryszard Kapuscinski, Polish Writer of Shimmering Allegories and News, Dies at 74
Ryszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist and writer who witnessed conflicts across the world, died in Warsaw at the age of 74.