Press & Interviews
English-language articles, reviews, obituaries and interviews about Ryszard Kapuściński — from the New York Times, the Guardian, the New York Review of Books, Granta, Slate and others.
From the archive · Article
Fellow Travelers
Donald Morrison in Time Magazine on Ryszard Kapuscinski and the tradition of travel journalism.
Interview · Michigan Today · 1997
Writing About Suffering
Ryszard Kapuscinski on writing about suffering — an interview on his working method and on the book Imperium.
Read the interview →
The whole archive
3 interviews · 41 articles- 2010 Fact, Fiction and KapuscinskiThe New York Times (The Lede Blog) · Robert MackeyRobert Mackey in The New York Times' Lede blog on the controversy around Artur Domoslawski's biography of Kapuscinski.
- 2007 Fellow TravelersTime Magazine · Donald MorrisonDonald Morrison in Time Magazine on Ryszard Kapuscinski and the tradition of travel journalism.
- 2007 Kapuściński, More Magical than RealNew Statesman · Michela Wrong, John PilgerMichela Wrong and John Pilger in the New Statesman on Kapuscinski's contested legacy and the argument over fact and fiction in his reportage.
- 2007 Ryszard Kapuściński: Defending his literary licenseSlate Magazine · Meghan O'RourkeMeghan O'Rourke replies to Jack Shafer in Slate, defending Kapuscinski's literary method and his right to cross the borders of straight reportage.
- 2007 Obituary: Ryszard KapuścińskiThe Guardian · Victoria BrittainVictoria Brittain's obituary of Ryszard Kapuscinski, published in The Guardian the day after his death.
- 2007 The Lies of Ryszard KapuścińskiSlate Magazine · Jack ShaferJack Shafer's contested Slate article questioning the factual reliability of Kapuscinski's reportage, published shortly after the writer's death.
- 2007 Ryszard Kapuscinski, Polish Writer of Shimmering Allegories and News, Dies at 74The New York Times · Michael T. KaufmanMichael T. Kaufman's obituary of Ryszard Kapuscinski, published in The New York Times on the day of the writer's death.
- 2001 In the Pit of HistoryThe New York Review of Books · Neal AschersonNeal Ascherson in The New York Review of Books reviews The Shadow of the Sun and examines Kapuscinski's method as a reporter.
- 2001 A Good Man in AfricaThe Daily Telegraph · W. F. DeedesW. F. Deedes reviews The Shadow of the Sun in The Daily Telegraph — a warm assessment of Kapuscinski's African reportage.
- 2001 Journeys into the interiorThe Guardian · Geoff DyerGeoff Dyer reviews The Shadow of the Sun in The Guardian — an epic of African travel by the great Polish foreign correspondent.
- 2001 Misguided TourThe Village Voice · Aleksandar HemonAleksandar Hemon's critical review in the Village Voice, charging Kapuscinski with essentialism in his portrait of Africa.
- 1997 Writing About SufferingMichigan Today · David Cohen, John Woodford, Thomas WolfeRyszard Kapuscinski on writing about suffering — an interview on his working method and on the book Imperium.
- 1994 Magic JournalismThe New York Review of Books · Adam HochschildAdam Hochschild in The New York Review of Books on Kapuscinski's writing — his reporting method and his relationship with fact.
- 1987 An Interview by Bill BufordGranta magazine · Bill BufordRyszard Kapuscinski talks to Bill Buford in Granta about his childhood in Pinsk, its international community and the beginnings of his writing life.
- no date A Personal Tribute A unique worldview for the common manOhmy News · Michael WerbowskiA personal tribute to Ryszard Kapuscinski, the great Polish reporter whose writing pushed generations to look at the wider world.
- no date A Poet Among JournalistsWorld Press ReviewA World Press Review profile of Ryszard Kapuscinski — the portrait of a poet among journalists.
- no date Africa's Year of Coups and CrisesCompass · Ryszard KapuścińskiA dispatch by Ryszard Kapuscinski on the turbulent African year of 1966 — the year of nine coups d'etat.
- no date At Play in the Bush of GhostsTimes Literary Supplement · John RyleJohn Ryle's long critical essay on The Shadow of the Sun in the Times Literary Supplement — the sharpest English-language challenge to Kapuscinski's method.
- no date Bus RidesThe EconomistThe Economist reviews Ryszard Kapuscinski's work.
- no date From Reporting to LiteratureRzeczpospolita (translation)A translated Rzeczpospolita article on Kapuscinski's prize nomination — from reportage to literature.
- no date I Had to Experience Everything for MyselfNewsweek · Andrew NagorskiThe life and career of Ryszard Kapuscinski, the legendary reporter and writer who covered conflicts across the world.
- no date It Was a Small Dog, a Japanese BreedWarsaw Voice · Sławomir MajmanA Warsaw Voice essay on the life and work of Ryszard Kapuscinski, the reporter who raised journalism to the rank of literature and won a world audience.
- no date Journalism in Open and Closed SocietiesMichigan Today, Spring 1998Excerpts from Ryszard Kapuscinski's conversations with students and faculty at the University of Michigan during his visit in November 1997.
- no date Kapuściński — New York Times Collected ReviewsNew York TimesFive New York Times reviews of Kapuscinski's books — The Soccer War, The Emperor, Shah of Shahs and Imperium.
- no date Kapuscinski Reportage RememberedGuardian · Frank Bajak - Associated Press WriterRyszard Kapuscinski, the legendary reporter and founder of a new literary journalism, who documented revolutions in Africa and Latin America.
- no date Kapuscinski: A disptach from the late master of reportageDziennik · Ian JackIan Jack on the life and work of Ryszard Kapuscinski, the master of reportage who spent his career inside the world's crises.
- no date Master Reporter Signs OffWarsaw Voice · Marcin MierzejewskiRyszard Kapuscinski, the legendary Polish journalist and writer, has died in Warsaw. A Warsaw Voice account of his career and his contribution to world journalism.
- no date Obituaries: Ryszard Kapuscinski, a chronicler of conflictThe International Herald Tribune · Michael T. KaufmanRyszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist and writer who witnessed 27 coups and conflicts around the world, died in 2007.
- no date On Kapuscinski gonzo orientalismMail&Guardian · Binyavanga WainainaA critical reading of Kapuscinski's legacy and his orientalism, seen through gonzo journalism and postcolonial perspectives.
- no date One World, Two CivilizationsNew Perspectives Quarterly, Spring 1986 · Ryszard KapuścińskiRyszard Kapuscinski in New Perspectives Quarterly, based on a conversation from January 1986, on the two civilizations sharing one world.
- no date One World, Two Civilizations (2002)New Perspectives Quarterly, Winter 2002 · Ryszard KapuścińskiRyszard Kapuscinski's second essay under the title One World, Two Civilizations, published in New Perspectives Quarterly, Winter 2002.
- no date Our Man in AfricaPowell's BooksA Powell's Books review — on Kapuscinski's reading of events in Rwanda, Angola and Liberia.
- no date Polish chronicler of Third World Kapuscinski diesReuters UKRyszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist who covered the world's conflicts and wrote 19 books translated into 30 languages, has died.
- no date Polish Writer Ryszard Kapuscinski DiesAssociated PressRyszard Kapuscinski, the world-renowned Polish writer and journalist who reported the wars and revolutions of Africa and the Middle East, has died.
- no date Polish writer who turned reportage into literatureFinancial Times · Stefan Wagstyl and Michael HolmanThe Financial Times on the life and work of Ryszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist who raised reportage to the rank of literature.
- no date Prominent Polish writer and journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski dies at 74The International Herald TribuneRyszard Kapuscinski, the Polish writer and journalist who won an international readership with his books on the world's conflicts, has died.
- no date Ryszard Kapuscinski Master of literary reportageThe independent · Alex Duval SmithThe Independent on the life and career of Ryszard Kapuscinski, the Polish reporter who documented life under authoritarian rule.
- no date Ryszard Kapuscinski, Polish Writer of Shimmering Allegories and News, Dies at 74The New York Times · Michael T. KaufmanRyszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist and writer who witnessed conflicts across the world, died in Warsaw at the age of 74.
- no date Ryszard Kapuscinski: A Worlds ReporterCanada Free Press · David DastychThe life and work of Ryszard Kapuscinski, the world's reporter, who gave himself to documenting human history and the struggle for human rights.
- no date The Illuminated Letters Of a Polish JournalistThe Washington Post · Neely TuckerThe Washington Post on Ryszard Kapuscinski, whose reportage from Africa and Latin America changed what journalism could be.
- no date The Shadow of the Sun — Collected ReviewsNew York Times, NewsweekFour reviews of Kapuscinski's books from the New York Times and Newsweek — The Shadow of the Sun, Another Day of Life and Imperium.
- no date The Shadow of the Sun — Pittsburgh Post Gazette ReviewPittsburgh Post GazetteThe Pittsburgh Post Gazette reviews The Shadow of the Sun — on the conditions of life in Africa that Kapuscinski came to know in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Rwanda.
- no date Third World chronicler Kapuscinski diesCNNRyszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist and author who documented the world's conflicts, has died at the age of 74.
- no date War Correspondent, Author Ryszard KapuscinskiThe Washington Post · Adam BernsteinThe Washington Post on Ryszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist who covered 27 revolutions and became a master of literary journalism.
Nothing matches these filters.
About the archive
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.