The third session of the 5-week reading group around Tenny Arlen’s book of poetry To Say with Passion: Why Am I Here? (Կիրքով ըսելու՝ ինչո՞ւ հոս եմ) meets tonight by Zoom.
In the first week, UCLA Western Armenian professor Dr. Hagop Kouloujian discussed Tenny Arlen’s linguistic and creative journey, from growing up with no Armenian knowledge until the age of 20 when she began an intensive study of Armenian language and literature at UCLA and soon after began composing original poetry of her own. The poems discussed in the first session touched on themes of creativity, language, the power of speech, and poetics.
Last week the discussion was led by Dr. Jesse Arlen around a series of poems relating to themes such as solitude, speech and silence, the individual vs. the crowd, isolation and connection.
The discussion of this week’s readings will be led by Dr. Christopher Sheklian, a postdoctoral research fellow at Radboud University and the former director of the Zohrab Information Center.
Tonight’s readings:
Հայ լեզուի խնդիրը (էջ 19) | The Problem of the Armenian Language (p. 8)
Տեղատուութիւն եւ մակընթացութիւն (էջ 22–23) | Ebb and Flow (p. 10)
Մտմտալով (էջ 38–39) | Musing (p. 18)
Հին ու նոր (էջ 48–49) | Old and New (p. 24)
Լոյս (էջ 58–59) | Light (p. 29)
Յուշագրութիւններ (էջ 71–79) | Memoirs (p. 36–40)
Մեռելածին (էջ 82–88) | Stillborn (p. 43–46)
PDFs of the book are available in Armenian and English.
The book is available for purchase here or from Abril Bookstore.
Or, be in touch directly with Jesse Arlen to arrange payment and shipping (zohrabcenter@armeniandiocese.org)