Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Readership continues to grow

We are celebrating the 7th anniversary of the Armenian Poetry Project.   


To date, APP has received over 457,000 hits and 29,415 audio downloads since its debut in May 2006. Readership has spread to over 100 countries where the lonely and the curious reach out to poetry TM.


Heartfelt thanks:


To you, our Readers -- you make it all possible. Your constant encouragement motivates the authors, the translators and the teachers.

To Catherine Fletcher and the editorial staff at Rattapallax for devoting a special feature on post-Genocide Armenian Poetry. 


To Peter Balakian, James Baloian, Sarkis Vahaken, Jean Assadour, Alan Whitehorn, Arpine Konyalian Grenier, Diana Der-Hovanessian, Aram Ketenjian, Panos Jeranian and William Michaelian (HG!) who sent their books and notes.


To Aram Saroyan, Gregory Djanikian, Michael Casey, Sotère Torregian, Lorne Shirinian, Raffi Setian, Lory Bedikian of Poetry Matters, Nancy Kricorian, Esther Heboyan, Keith Garebian, Nora Nadjarian, Nancy Agabian of GARTAL, Jim Erkiletian, Michael Akillian, Hagop Djelalian, Mark Gavoor, Garo Armenian and other contemporary authors for their permission to post their poems.


To Dr. Levon Avdoyan, of the Library of Congress, for his assistance in researching books.
To Prof. Theo M Van Lint for his scholarship and help in acquiring texts
To Nvair Kadian Beylerian for the use of her grandfather Anoush Krikorian's library.
To Zachary Jean Chartkoff for his contribution of books to the ever expanding APP library.
To Artsvi Bakhchinyan and Vartan Matiossian for their scholarship and translations.
To Prof. Dora Sakayan for her translations of Paruyr Sevak and her enthusiasm
To Prof. Valentina Calzolari for her translations published in the series Patrimoine littéraire J.-C. POLET (éd.)
To L.A.'s Zephyr Poets --Tina Demirdjian, Armine Iknadossian, Shahé Mankerian and Alene Terzian); Karen Karslyan, and Ara Shirinyan, for their support and partication in readings.
To Albert Kaprielian for his aid in getting documents on Canadian-Armenian poet Sha[u]nt Basmajian
To Sako Arian for his contribution of books
To Per Wik who introduced his grandfather Harout Kosdantyan and his work
To Elizabeth Grigorian for her assistance at the Glendale Public Library


To the judges of the first, second and third annual Arthur Halvajian Memorial poetry writing competition sponsored by the ASA: Garen Kazanc, Christopher Janigian; Lisa Whitten, Silva Ajamian, Dr. Rachel Goshgarian, Father Mesrop Lakissian and Alice Movsesian.


To Louise Kiffer of France and Sylvie M. Miller of Monaco for their translations of poems into French, and Tatul Sonentz for this translations into Armenian, French and English.


To the budding poets who send me emails and who participated in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd anniversary "Poetry Blasts", and APP's poetry writing competition in 2010, 2011 and 2012.


To the volunteer readers who contributed their voices to 19th - 21st century authors.


To the staff at Horizon Weekly's Literary Supplement (Montréal); the Aztag Daily's Literary and Arts Supplement (Beirut); the New York Public Library (Humanities Research); the Glendale Public Library; the Zohrab Center (New York); the Armenian Prelacy (New York); the AGBU's Bibliothèque Nubar (Paris); and, the Librairie Samuélian (Paris).


To various institutions and blogs such as the Armenian Educational Portal who have provided links to this site.


Lola Koundakjian
Curator and Producer of The Armenian Poetry Project
ArmenianPoetryProject[at]gmail[dot]com

4 comments:

............... said...

Hi Lola! I `m from Argentina and I `m searching (new) poetry for all over the world.So I am so happy to find this blog (I will read the poetry that is in english).
bye!!
Lilian

Mark Gavoor said...

Lola

I remember you calling me when I was still working in NYC, "Mark, I have an idea..." You laid out the idea for the Armenian Poetry Project.

Wow... who would have thought that a few years later that APP is THE source for reading, sharing, exchanging Armenian poetry and thought in all languages.

I love that you are giving a place for both active and budding poets to show and share their work. It is also wonderful that you are posting the works of the masters. It is a great mix and a most precious gift you have given to Armenians worldwide.

Hampwirnerov
Mark

Unknown said...

As an Armenian who writes poetry, I am very excited to find this blog. I'm interested in hearing about any future contests or chances to submit poetry.

Mark Gavoor said...

Dear Friends and Fans of the Armenian Poetry Network:

I awoke this morning to a facebook post from our friend Lola saying that her old refurbished MacBook is near the end of its useful life. She needs something new, something economical, and, for obvious reasons, something that easily accommodates Armenian. She was looking at the ChromeBook, which are incredibly economical. The problem here is the support of the Armenian keyboard which is at present buggy. Her posting on facebook was to seek alternatives.

Clearly, Lola needs a brand spanking new MacBook Pro. It is exactly what she needs and should have to properly update and maintain our beloved Armenian Poetry Project. The problem is that they are pricey and beyond her budget.

My idea is for all of us, collectively, to tell Lola: Problem Cheh! Let's contribute to the Armenian Poetry project and give our dear friend Lola an early Christmas present... a brand new state of the art MacBook Pro.

I know. I know. We all think she makes millions from the Armenian Poetry Project website. We all think, due to the mainstream overwhelming popularity of Armenian Poetry, that Lola is living well from the proceeds of the Armenian Poetry Project. We have all heard about her Park Avenue Apartment penthouse and a villa in the south of France.

The reality is a bit different. The Armenian Poetry Project is not a revenue generator at all. She gets donations via the PayPal link on the sight. The donations amount to a whopping couple of hundred dollars a year. That's right, the Armenian Poetry Project generates $100-200 of donations per good year. Lola uses this money to buy books and to pay for server space for the audio files.

Lola Koundakjian has provided a wonderful service to all of us, to the Armenian People, and most definitely to Armenian Culture. So, let us show our gratitude, thanks, friendship, and love in a most meaningful and positive way.

Let's buy her a new laptop!

Let's buy her a new laptop to show our appreciation for all she does. Let's buy her a new laptop so that she can update, maintain, and support our beloved Armenian Poetry Project in style.

I am kicking this off with a $100 donation.

Join me with whatever you can contribute. Anything you give will be greatly appreciated.

I close with a haiku. Many years ago, I believe 2004 or 2005, Lola sent out an email saying that November was National Haiku month and that if we were to write a haiku a day during this month, we would have thirty haikus at the end of the month. I took her up on that and have been writing a haiku a day ever since. Here is the one I wrote this morning:

screenless and fontless
the apple eaten to the core,
who can process this?

APP Laptop Fund

With the best regards,
Mark Gavoor