Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice is pleased to present a bilingual reading of Tenny Arlen’s important book of Armenian verse entitled Կիրքով ըսելու՝ ինչո՞ւ հոս եմ (To Say with Passion: Why Am I Here?) (Yerevan: ARI Literature Foundation, 2021). As one of the first full-length volumes of creative literature composed in Armenian by a US-born author after over a century of Armenian-American community development—this is a landmark achievement. Christopher Atamian, Dr. Jesse S. Arlen, and Arthur Ipek will read and discuss selections from Tenny Arlen’s book of verse.
The event will take place at the new gallery of Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice located at 227 E 24th Street New York, NY, 10010 on Tuesday, June 27th at 6:30pm. Note, the gallery is closed on Tuesdays and will open at 5:30 for this special event.
Jennifer Manoukian will present a lecture entitled Zareh Vorpouni and the Metamorphosis of Western Armenian Literature at the Zohrab Center on Tuesday, June 13 at 7PM. The presentation comes on the heels of Manoukian’s new English translation of the French-Armenian author’s 1967 novel, The Candidate.
Zareh Vorpouni was the least known, but the most prolific in a coterie of young writers who turned Paris of the 1920’s and 1930’s into the epicenter of Western Armenian literature. These writers deliberately broke with their Ottoman Armenian predecessors in theme and form, staging an outright rebellion against them. Their invention of new literary standards and their impulse to represent the new realities of the diaspora challenged the conservatism of the Armenian community and created a fleeting period in which interrogations of nationalism, clericalism and sexuality became the norm in literature.
Jennifer Manoukian has published works by Zabel Yessayan and Zareh Vorpouni.
Vorpouni spent the second half of the twentieth century at the height of his creativity. “He embodies the new, the experimental, and the transgressive in Western Armenian fiction,” writes Manoukian.
Jennifer Manoukian is a translator of Western Armenian literature. She will begin her doctoral studies at U.C.L.A. in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures in the fall. She received her Master’s degree from the Department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies at Columbia University and her Bachelor’s degree in French and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutger’s University. She recently presented her 2014 English translation of Zabel Yessayan’s The Gardens of Silihdar at the Zohrab Center.
Zareh Vorpouni was one of the most prolific Armenian authors in mid-twentieth century Paris.
Vorpouni’s novel, The Candidate, follows the trials and travails of two Armenian refugees in 1920s Paris. At its core, Manoukian reveals “a commentary on the (im)possibility of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, the toll of sacrifice and the tremors of trauma and love, which mirror the wandering, introspective and hybridized life of its author,” she writes.
Manoukian will speak about The Candidate, which she co-translated with Ishkhan Jinbashian. CLICK HERE to download a flyer.
Manoukian’s presentation will take place in the Guild Hall of the Armenian Diocese in New York on Tuesday, June 13 at 7PM. The event is free and open to the public. Copies of The Candidate will be available for sale. A reception and conversation will follow.
For further information contact the Zohrab Center at zohrabcenter@armeniandiocese.org or (212) 686-0710.
Armenian orphans in class on the Mediterranean shore near Antelias in the aftermath of the Genocide. Courtesy of Bared Maronian
This Friday, May 16, Dr. Arda Jebejian will present a lecture at St. Leon Armenian Church, Fair Lawn, New Jersey entitled Challenges and Opportunities to Maintaining an Endangered Language.
A socio-linguist, Dr. Jebejian will explore the experience of other endangered languages and explain why languages die, what is lost and what we can do to avoid extinction. Unlike the physical destruction and other aspects of the genocidal process, the death of Western Armenian is neither inevitable nor irreversible. Simple, practical steps by parents and communities can be taken to maintain Western Armenian and pass it on to subsequent generations.
The lecture is being co-sponsored by St. Leon Armenian Church, the Armenian Studies Department of the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern) and the Zohrab Information Center.
Dr. Jebejian is a lecturer at the University of Nicosia. She holds a Doctor of Applied Linguistics from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom. She has authored twenty-two books including four text books for English language instruction with supplemental materials.
The presentation will take place on Friday, May 16 at 7:45PM at the Grace & Charles Pinajian Youth Center of St. Leon Armenian Church, 12-61 Saddle River Road, Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The lecture will be presented in English, and is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.
For further information contact gildak@armeniandiocese.org or (212) 686-0710.
A 12-week course of Armenian Language instruction for adults will begin on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at the Armenian Diocese Center in New York. The course is offered by the Mesrob Mashdots Institute of the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern). The program is designed to accommodate varied aptitudes. Classes meet Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:30PM.
Jennifer Manoukian will present a lecture entitled Zareh Vorpouni and the Metamorphosis of Western Armenian Literature at the Zohrab Center on Tuesday, June 13 at 7PM. The presentation comes on the heels of Manoukian’s new English translation of the French-Armenian author’s 1967 novel, The Candidate.
