The winners of the International Armenian Literary Alliance’s fourth Young Armenian Poets Awards in honor of Tamar Asadourian have been announced, and their poems published in h-pem magazine. Congratulations to poets Lenna Karapetian, Hasmik Tumasyan, Madeline Berberian-Hutchinson and Ani Kradjian.
This year’s entrants were asked to submit work that explores the idea of “home.” Responses could have considered physical spaces, such as buildings and land, as well as more abstract notions, such as the sanctuary of language, memory or the one suggested in Naguib Mahfouz’s words: “Home is not where you were born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease.”
In his introduction, founder and director of the awards Alan Semerdjian writes, “Can home here be a state of mind? Perhaps it’s less about where we are physically and more about where we are psychically. Is it that the moment we stop running is when we find home? Or is home found, as one of this year’s judges Gregory Djanikian pondered, ‘in the sanctuary of language’?” Of the winners, Semerdjian writes, “These poems laugh and cry and build and take down and sing and pray. They are a reminder that humanity has always been our home and needs to be in the future if we are to live in this world together.”
Click the links below to read the winning poems in h-pem magazine:
- Lenna Karapetian: “I Was Raised by Survivors”
- Hasmik Tumasyan: “home is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on lavash bread”
- Madeline Berberian-Hutchinson: “For Mariam”
- Ani Kradjian (Honorable Mention): “Tip-Toes”
The contest was judged by IALA Advisory Board members Gregory Djanikian, Arminé Iknadossian and Raffi Joe Wartanian. 
The winning poets will read their work at IALA’s fourth Emerging Writers Showcase — a virtual reading to highlight the work of rising Armenian writers — on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific | 1:00 p.m. Eastern | 9:00 p.m. Armenia, hosted by Shahé Mankerian, IALA’s Mentorship Program director.
The event will also feature readings by the mentees of this year’s Mentorship Program, who will be introduced by their mentors.
To access the virtual reading on Zoom, register here.
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