Day: April 24, 2024

The International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA), the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center are pleased to invite you to their next 2024 Literary Lights event featuring Armen Davoudian, author of a Publishers Weekly & The Rumpus Most Anticipated Poetry Book of 2024, The Palace of Forty Pillars. Davoudian will be joined by celebrated author and UCLA professor, Anahid Nersessian. The event, co-sponsored by the Radius of Arab American Writers (RAWI) and The Offing literary magazine, will take place virtually on May 4, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific | 1:00 p.m. Eastern | 9:00 p.m. Armenia time. Register here.

Wry, tender and formally innovative, Davoudian’s debut poetry collection, The Palace of Forty Pillars, tells the story of a self estranged from the world around him as a gay adolescent, an Armenian in Iran and an immigrant in America. It is a story darkened by the long shadow of global tragedies—the Armenian Genocide, war in the Middle East and the specter of homophobia. With masterful attention to rhyme and meter, these poems also carefully witness the most intimate encounters: the awkward distance between mother and son getting ready in the morning, the delicate balance of power between lovers and a tense exchange with the morality police in Iran.

In Isfahan, Iran, the eponymous palace has only 20 pillars—but, reflected in its courtyard pool, they become 40. This is the gamble of Davoudian’s magical, ruminative poems: to recreate, in art’s reflection, a home for the speaker, who is unable to return to it in life. Learn more about The Palace of Forty Pillars.

“Brilliant and deft and heartfelt.” — Richie Hofmann, author of A Hundred Lovers

“In this formally radical debut, Armen Davoudian shows how rhyme enacts longing for a homeland left behind; how meter sings to a lost beloved; and how a combination of the two can map a self—or idea of the self—relinquished so that a new life, and all the happiness it deserves, can take shape.” — Paul Tran, author of All the Flowers Kneeling

Armen Davoudian is the author of the poetry collection The Palace of Forty Pillars (Tin House) and the translator, from Persian, of Hopscotch by Fatemeh Shams (Ugly Duckling Presse). His chapbook, Swan Song, won the 2020 Frost Place Competition. He grew up in Isfahan, Iran, and is a Ph.D. candidate in English at Stanford University.

Anahid Nersessian was born and raised in New York City. She is the author of three books—Keats’s Odes: A Lover’s Discourse (Verso, 2022; U of Chicago P, 2021), The Calamity Form: On Poetry and Social Life (Chicago, 2020) and Utopia, Limited: Romanticism and Adjustment (Harvard UP, 2015)—and a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. Her work has also appeared in The London Review of Books, New Left Review, n+1, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Paris Review, Bidoun, Poetry Magazine and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is a professor in the department of English at UCLA.

Literary Lights is a monthly reading series organized, for the second year in a row, by IALA, NAASR and the Zohrab Information Center. Each event—held online—features a writer reading from their work, followed by a discussion with an interviewer and audience members. Keep an eye on IALA’s website and socials for the exact dates of each event. Read along with the series by purchasing titles from the IALA Bookstore or the NAASR Bookstore.

Author information

International Armenian Literary Alliance

The International Armenian Literary Alliance is a nonprofit organization launched in 2021 that supports and celebrates writers by fostering the development and distribution of Armenian literature in the English language. A network of Armenian writers and their champions, IALA gives Armenian writers a voice in the literary world through creative, professional, and scholarly advocacy.

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South Caucasus News

Nora Armani to perform Mercedes and Zaruhi in Boston

Post author By Mike Nova
Post date April 24, 2024

ARLINGTON, Mass.—Yearning for their homeland, lost to the Soviet takeover of the Republic of Armenia on November 29, 1920, drove close to a hundred thousand Armenians scattered throughout the world, mainly from the Middle East and Europe, to respond to the call of Soviet Armenian authorities in 1946 to repatriate to their ancestral homeland. This historic scheme launched about 80 years ago (1946-1949), known as the Mets Hayrenadardzut’iun (Great Repatriation) or simply nergaght’ (in-migration), proved to be a major disappointment and disillusionment, resulting in demoralized masses, broken families, devastation, exile and loss of innocent lives.

Nora Armani (Photo: Xiaupeng Zhan)

On Sunday, April 28 at 4:00 p.m., the Armenian Cultural Foundation (ACF) will present Mercedes and Zaruhi, a solo play by Nora Armani, based on a story written by playwright Anush Aslibekyan. Mercedes and Zaruhi, based on true events, is the story of two Armenian sisters from Greece, separated by individual decisions that shaped their destinies: Mercedes’ to stay in Greece and Zaruhi’s to repatriate to her beloved Armenia.

Mercedes and Zaruhi explores the theme of repatriation to Soviet Armenia from the late 1940s to the early 1990s through a series of letters exchanged between two sisters. Mercedes’ letters are shared through voiceover in Armenian, although she never appears on stage. The play highlights the social, political and cultural distance and differences separating the two siblings, as well as heartbreak and disillusionment, which proved not to be unique to Zaruhi but also tens of thousands of repatriates.

Aslibekyan first created the story in 2012, before turning it into a full play and subsequently a monologue. Originally, a full multi-actor play was presented in Armenia by Armani, in the Armenian original. Subsequently, the English language translation was provided by Armani. “This is a wonderful opportunity to bring the work of Anush Aslibekyan to an English-speaking audience,” Armani stated. “My work entailed translating the solo play and adapting it by adding some material, to make it clearer to a non-initiated, non-Armenian audience.” Armani also recorded her own voice in Western Armenian for the voiceover.

Reflecting on the play, Marvin Carlson, Distinguished Professor of Theatre and Performance at the City University of New York, praised Armani’s performance and the monodrama: “[Nora Armani] tells a great story – suspenseful, warm, human and funny, with great characters, and [her] depiction of the slowly aging protagonist was deeply moving, especially the final scene. A memorable evening in the theater.”

This play is currently on the syllabus for Modern Armenian Literature for 10th graders in Armenia and serves as an important educational resource of post-Genocide Armenian history. The production features music composed by singer-songwriter Vahan Arzruni.

Renowned performer and director Nora Armani is an award-winning actor and filmmaker with extensive international stage and screen credits. Recently, she filmed Absolute Dominion, a feature film by Lexi Alexander, for Netflix. She has appeared Off-Broadway in Six Characters in Search of an Author by Priandello, Terrorism by Presnyakov Brothers, Measure for Measure by Shakespeare (in Cairo), La Fête Virile (in Paris) and Plebeians Rehearse the Uprising (in London). Her TV and film credits include, “Blacklist, Redemption,” “Golden Boy,” “Casualty” (BBC), “The Friends” (EG TV) and the films La Nouvelle Eve, Voisin Voisine, Last Station, Labyrinth, Good Funk, I am Gitmo, Hungry and Moving Stories. For her full bio and filmography, visit www.noraarmani.net or www.IMDb.me/noraarmani. Armani was recently awarded the Cinema Achievement Award at the 38th Alexandria Film Festival, Egypt. Armani’s most recent feature film roles include The Last Wish (2023-completed) and Jukebox (2024-in post-production), two Finnish-Spanish co-productions filmed in Spain and directed by Rax Rinnekangas.

Anush Aslibekyan

An Armenian playwright and dramatist born in Armenia, Anush Aslibekyan has been a member of the Association of Armenian Writers since 2012. She is the author of five books. Many of her works have been translated into different languages, including Polish, German, Greek and Russian. Aslibekyan served as the founder and senior editor at Arvest Art Magazine (2000-2005), head of the literature department at Hamazkayin State Theatre (2008-2009) and TV anchor, reporter and commentator at Ararat TV of Public Television Company of Armenia (2008–2010). Since 2006, she has been a researcher at the Art Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and teaches theater history, literature and dramaturgy. Her award-winning plays have been performed in Armenia and internationally in over 20 festivals. As a professor and arts candidate, Aslibekyan authored and runs the Two in Search of an Author program on Noah’s Ark channel, dedicated to contemporary literature and art.

On Sunday, April 28 at 4:00 p.m., the Boston community in general and the Armenian community in particular will have the opportunity to enjoy Mercedes and Zaruhi. The event is open to the public and is sponsored by the AIWA, AWWA and TCA. Tickets ($15) will be available for purchase at the door or by contacting the ACF (781-646-3090) during office hours (10 a.m.–2 p.m.) or by email at armeniancultural.fdn@gmail.com. Seating is limited, and a reception will follow immediately after the play.