21st Century Armenian Literary Voices

I recently received the first volume of a series that aims to capture the 21st century Armenian literary voice.

The project is the brainchild of the New York Hamazkayin chapter and is spearheaded by Dr. Herand Markarian, who sent me “Artsakh Voice” (Tsayn Artsakhian)—the first volume of the intended collection.

The objective of the series is to have a collection of writings from the “four corners” of the world that is Armenian in the 21st century. The goal is to have the sequels published by 2025. The submitted literary pieces must be original and not previously published. Submissions for inclusion need to be creative literary works and should not entail translation, political analysis, historical review, and be analytical or a memorial and in a distinct dialect.  

The series is intended to consist of the following nine volumes. Submissions from Armenia are meant to be written by emerging writers between the ages of 18 to 40.

Volume 1: Artsakh; Tsayn Artsakhian
Volume 2: Abkhazia, where there is an Armenian Writers Unions’, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia…the so-called “the inner Diaspora”
Volume 3: Armenia—poetry
Volume 4: Armenia—prose
Volume 5: Armenia—theater
Volume 6: The American Continent, Australia, New Zealand
Volume 7: Turkey
Volume 8: Middle East
Volume 9: Europe

The first volume is in hard cover, 700 copies of which were printed in Yerevan in 2021 in a very good quality print. The Association of Artsakh Writers has collaborated to bring this volume to fruition. It is 481 pages long and features the prose and poetry of 48 writers from Artsakh, including the literary works from eight deceased Artsakh writers. Along with the pen, these writers also resorted to the rifle for reasons we know all too well. It was fitting that their literary works marshal the 21st century Armenian literary voice.

To convey the authenticity of the Armenian literary voice, Dr. Markarian has ruled that the submissions will not be reviewed by literary critics to render a judgment on the literary merit of a submission. The submissions will be published to capture and preserve the authenticity of the Armenian literary voice in the mosaic that is the Armenian world in the first quarter of the 21st century. 

The second volume of the collection is in preparation. It is called “Northern Voice” (Tsayn Husisyan). The editor of the volume is Armen Avanesyan, a doctoral candidate in literature and the director of the Diaspora Department of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

It would not surprise me if, as the project unfolds and is realized, a sequel of Diaspora Armenian literature in Latin, Arabic and Cyrillic script may follow. 

Although the project was initiated by the NY Hamazkayin chapter, it is driven through individual initiative and support. Donations are received under four categories. The sponsors (Հովաւանաւորող) are donors of $5,000. The name of the sponsor, along with the honoree, will appear on the first page of the volume. In the case of Tsayn Husisyan, the sponsor has preferred to remain anonymous and has requested his donation in anonymity be noted at the end of the book.

The second category is as benefactor (Բարերար) for donors of $1,000. The name of the benefactor, along with the honoree, will be acknowledged on the second page of the volume. 

Donors of $500 are acknowledged as maecenas (Մեկենաս). Their names and their honorees are listed in the back of the book, along with all those who in appreciation and in support of the project make lesser donations. 

It should be noted that the committee headed by Dr. Markarian has transmitted through the Artsakh Writers’ Union an honorarium to each of the Artsakh writers who had a piece of their literary works submitted for publication in the first volume of “Artsakh Voice” (Tsayn Artsakhian).

Dr. Markarian has undertaken coordinating a monumental task. He may be reached via email (hmarkarian@yahoo.com) for submitting articles and offering financial assistance to help bring the project to fruition.

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Vahe Apelian

After ending his career spanning over three decades in the pharmaceutical research and development with multinationals in various capacities, Vahe H. Apelian devoted his time mostly to gardening, blogging and keeping in touch with relations near and far. He has published a three volume series titled The Way We Were-The Way We Are and has translated two books: Simon Simonian: The Last Scion of the Mountaineers by Levon Sharoyan and The Diaspora Armenian Pop Music by Boghos Shahmelikian along with numerous articles. He is an ardent supporter of The Armenian Weekly and Hamazkayin.

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• 21st Century Armenian Literary Voices - March 1, 2022