10th anniversary - 10րդ տարեդարձ - 10ème anniversaire

Today is the 10th anniversary of the Armenian Poetry Project. We will celebrate it as we often do, quietly, reading poetry and happy to have achieved a few key points. 

We research and share the best Armenian poetry we can find in books and digital archives as well as through contacts with contemporary poets.  

We remain the only website to provide audio and text RSS feeds of poems written by Armenians, as well as contemporary authors on Armenian subject matters. 

We continue providing all internet surfers free access to the webpage and audio downloads 24/7/365 via RSS, Twitter and iTunes.

We celebrate APP's broad spectrum:
- gems by authors from the 19th century to the present
- introduction to out of print books
- an index by authors and countries
- experimental works by contemporary authors
- introduction of budding authors, including the APP/ASA poetry competition winners, now in its 6th year
- different languages of expression, mostly Armenian, English or French, with translations provided whenever possible

This project is curated and produced by Lola Koundakjian in New York. To contact APP, send an email to: ArmenianPoetryProject[at]gmail[dot]com.

If YOU ENJOY this website, please consider making a donation via Paypal.com by clicking on the button below. Your donations help maintain the audio website, buy books and replace equipment for the recordings as well as research in libraries. 

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ԵՂԻԱ ՏԷՄԻՐՃԻՊԱՇԵԱՆ։ԹԱՇԿԻՆԱԿՆ

Դարձեալ ձեռքըդ թաշկինակ կայ,

Եւ այս անգամ լայն, ճեփ ճերմակ,

Բոլորաձեւ զերդ լուսընկայ,

Պարիկի՜ մ՚է գոգցես վերմակ։

Մեծ է թէեւ, այլ յոյժ նըրբին.

Հանճա՞րդ է նա յոստայն փոխուած.

Մատունքդ եզերքն անոր շրջին,

Գոգցես դաշնակ մ՚է նա կախուած։

Այլ թաշկինակն ոչ ունի բառ.

Յիւր ծալսն ասեղդ ոստոստ խաղայ.

Դաշնա՜կն, այն է` բերանդ անճառ,

Մե՜ղր ի շըրթանցդ յիմ սիրտ տեղայ։

Բաբէ՜, սակայն, սրտէս խորշի՜

Մեղրն, եւ կամ հոն լուծուի յարտսուս.

Տո՛ւր ինձ ճերմակ, լայն, բոլորշի

Թաշկինակդ այդ, Սէրս, այլ ո՛չ Յոյսս։

(Մասիս, 5 Յունուար, 1907

ԵՂԻԱ ՏԷՄԻՐՃԻՊԱՇԵԱՆ (1851-1908)  «Արձակ էջեր, նամակներ, քերթուածներ»

Ինտրա։ ՎԵՐԱԴԱՐՁ

5, 7.

Նորէն սեւ նոճեաց մօտ է սենեակս ու զեղուն՝

Մարգն ի վեր կանգնած մութ ամբոխին սըլացքով,

Ու ստուերովն ոմանց որ կ’ամբառնան որմիս քով,

Ու’ անոնց անպատում սօսաւիւնով ողողուն:

Նախկի՜ն հայեցմանցս ոլո՛րտն յաւէտ երկնագով,

Ուր ապրեր էր ստէպ հայրն երբեմնի այս տըղուն,

Եւ զոր կ’ընտրեմ վայր պաշտամունքի մը ղօղուն,

Հին խանդովն հիացիկ ու’ այժմու խոհուն խըռովքով.

Ո՜ բնավայրս, եկա՛յ, ծոցիդ շատ մօտ այս անգամ,

Քու մելամաղձիկ ըստուերիդ մէջ մշտդալար

Տրտում վերացմանդ խունկը շնչել վերըստին.

Քանզի հսկայից սրտին ես ցաւը կ’զգամ,

Ցորչափ կը մտածեմ թէ վէս հոգի թրթռալար՝

Ի՛նչ անժառանգեալ մ’եմ հեռանշոյլ Ճշմարտին:

26 Նոյ. 1905

«Նոճաստան»

Vittoria Aganoor: Domani

Vivo, respiro, palpito; si libra 

baldo il pensiero in alte estasi immerso; 

la salute mi pulsa in ogni fibra 

e del mio core in ogni acceso fremito 

fremere sento il cor dell'universo. 

Domani… un soffio di rovaio; un vampo 

d'estivo sole; un piccioletto morso 

d'angue; il vapor d'un paludoso campo, 

mi prostrerà, questo di vive, libere 

forze arrestando portentoso corso. 

Pallida, muta, intorno al letto mio 

udrò bisbigliar preci, udrò singhiozzi 

spegnersi lontanando in mormorìo 

di lamenti; vorrò, ma invano, sorgere, 

stender le braccia e dire almeno:-Addio!- 

Ma innanzi a queste mie pupille, assorte 

oggi in fantasmi di superbi amori, 

piene di sogni e piene di splendori, 

cadrà il nero sipario della morte. 

VITTORIA AGANOOR honored in 100Lives.com

The Armenian-Italian poet Vittoria Aganoor (1855-1910) in 100 lives

https://auroraprize.com/en/armenia/detail/8624/vittoria-aganoor-poet

IL TRENO

Va nella notte l'anelante spettro 

tra le fragranze dei vigneti in fiore, 

va nella notte e da conquistatore 

schiavo il mio corpo si trascina dietro. 

Solo il mio corpo, l'inerte persona; 

ma dal possente che scintille esala 

ratto si sciolse con un colpo d'ala 

quel che laccio terren non imprigiona, 

ed a ritroso migra ad un alato 

fratel che incontro cupido gli viene; 

libere vie liberamente tiene 

sui vinti gioghi e il mar signoreggiato. 

Sì, lo spettro che torbido viaggia 

lunge si porti il frenito degli ebbri 

sensi, il tumulto, le maligne febbri, 

gl'impeti della mia fibra selvaggia; 

e a te venga, e di raggi e fior si valga 

a parlarti d'amor senza parola 

tutta l'anima mia, l'anima sola, 

e la tua cerchi, e le si stringa, e salga! 

From Aganoor Pompilj, Vittoria (1855-1910) Poesie complete [1912] (Firenze: F. Le Monnier), Ed. Grilli, Luigi.

Literary evening in Toronto - Գրասէրներու Խմբակ - May 1, 2016

Գրասէրներու Խմբակի հաւաքներու շարքը ծայր առաւ Փետրուար 2012ին ու կը շարունակուի ամսական դրութեամբ հանրութեան հրամցնել հայ գրողներու ստեղծագործութիւնները։ Հաւաքներուն նպատակը հայ գրականութեան եւ հայ երիտասարդին միջեւ կամուրջ ստեղծելն է։

Մայիս մէկին, Գրասէրներու Խմբակէն անդամներ պիտի ներկայացնեն ընտիր փունջ մը հայ քնարերգութեան աշխարհէն։ Սիրով հրաւիրուած էք. կը քաջալերենք բոլորիդ ներկայութիւնը։ Վայր՝ Համազգայինի «Յ Մանուկեան» գրադարան, Հայ Կեդրոն, Թորոնթօ։

The purpose of these monthly gatherings is to allow Armenian youth to study, research and present about their favourite Armenian author; thereby, bridging the gap between Armenian literature and Armenian youth. 

On May 1, a handful of our youth members will be presenting a series of poems that are lyrical in genre.

Lory Bedikian to participate in a A Celebration of Feminist Poets Who Span a Generation

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-celebration-of-feminist-poets-who-span-a-generation-tickets-24500507678

A Celebration of Feminist Poets Who Span a Generation

On Saturday, May 7th, Red Hen Press and the Women’s Center of Los Angeles will hold a benefit reading - A Celebration of Feminist Poets Who Span a Generation – From the 1960's to Present Day featuring renown feminist poets Judy Grahn and Eloise Klein Healy in conversation with up-and-coming contemporary feminist poets Lory Bedikian, Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, Adrienne Christiansen, Nicelle Davis, and Jenny Factor.

The event will begin with a champagne reception at 2 p.m. at the Feminist Majority Foundation/Ms. Magazine (433 S Beverly Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90212). Tickets are available in advance for $16.00 for adults, $12.00 for students and seniors, and for $25.00 at the door. This benefit is in support Red Hen Press and WCLA - two nonprofit organizations dedicated to the shared values, voices, legacy, and impact of women writers. 

Free book, champagne, and hors d'oeuvres included with ticket.

Reader Bios:

Judy Grahn is teacher, activist and award winning author of The Common Woman Poems, Edward the Dyke, A Simple Revolution: the Making of an Activist Poet and many more. Some of her recent publications include Love Belongs to Those Who Do the Feeling and The Judy Grahn Reader. Her forthcoming (and 14th) book is Hanging On Our Own Bones. She was a member of the Gay Women’s Liberation Group, the first lesbian-feminist collective on the West Coast, founded in 1969 which established the first women’s bookstore, A Woman’s Place, as well as the first all-woman press, the Woman’s Press Collective. Ms. Grahn earned her PhD from the California Institute of Integral Studies.  Her honors include a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, an American Book Review Award, an American Book Award, an American Library Award, and a Founding Foremothers of Women’s Spirituality Award. Since 1997 Publishing Triangle, after awarding Grahn a Lifetime Achievement Award in Lesbian Letters, has issued an annual Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award. Today, Ms. Grahn lives in California and teaches women's mythology and ancient literature, Metaformic Consciousness (a philosophy created by Grahn), and Uncommon Kinship - a course that uses theories from her Metaformic philosophy which traces the roots of culture back to ancient menstrual rights at the California Institute for Integral Studies, the New College of California, and the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology.

Eloise Klein Healy the first Poet Laureate of Los Angeles is professor emerita at Antioch University Los Angeles and the co-founder of Eco-Arts. Her collection of poems, Passing, was a finalist for the 2003 Lambda Literary Awards in Poetry and the Audre Lorde Award from The. Healy has also received the Grand Prize of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and has received six Pushcart nominations. She was involved in the Woman's Building, the well known West Coast feminist cultural center, throughout the 1970s and 1980s in various capacities including as a teacher and a member of the Board of Directors. Healy was instrumental in directing the women's studies program at Cal State Northridge, started the MFA program in creative writing at Antioch University and founded Arktoi Books, an imprint of Red Hen Press.

Lory Bedikian’s The Book of Lamenting was awarded the 2010 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. Bedikian received her BA from UCLA with an emphasis in Creative Writing and Poetry where she was twice nominated for the Ina Coolbrith Memorial Prize in Poetry. Her poems have been published in the Connecticut Review, Portland Review,Poetry International, Poet Lore and Heliotrope among other journals and have been included in Blue Arc West: An Anthology of California Poets. And, Poets & Writers magazine chose her work as a finalist for the 2010 California Writers Exchange Award. She lives and teaches poetry workshops in Los Angeles.

Lillian-Yvonne Bertram is one-sixth of the poetry collective, Line Assembly and in 2014, recipient of an NEA Creative Writing Poetry Fellowship. Her chapbook cutthroat glamours (2013) won the Phantom Press chapbook contest and her first full-length book, But a Storm is Blowing From Paradise (Red Hen Press, 2012), was selected by Claudia Rankine as the 2010 Benjamin Saltman Award winner and was a 2013 poetry nominee for the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award for outstanding works of literature published by people of African descent. Her second book, a slice from the cake made of air,was released this spring from Red Hen Press; her third book, personal science, is forthcoming from Tupelo Press. 

Nicelle Davis is a California poet, collaborator, and performance artist. Her books poetry includes Becoming Judas, Circe, and In the Circus of You. Her fourth book of poems, The Walled Wife,was released by Red Hen Press this spring. Davis’ work has been published by The Beloit Poetry Journal, The New York Quarterly, PANK, SLAB Magazine, and others. Davis is the editor-at-large of The Los Angeles Review and was the recipient of the 2013 AROHO retreat 9 3/4 Fellowship. She currently teaches at Paraclete and with the Red Hen Press WITS program.

Jenny Factor earned a BA in anthropology at Harvard University, where she studied with Seamus Heaney, and an MFA in literature and poetry at Bennington College. Her book the Unraveling at the Name won the 2002 Hayden Carruth Award and her poems have been featured in numerous anthologies, including The Best American Erotic Poems, Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry, and The Poet’s Child. Factor lives in San Marino, California and has worked as a freelance writer, editor and taught at Antioch University, Los Angeles.

Robert SAMOIAN: KHATCHKAR

Khatchkar ! Ce mot difficile à prononcer

Par celui à qui l’arménien est étranger

Est trop vite traduit par « Pierre à Croix »

S’agissant d’une pierre gravée d’une croix d’Arménie et témoin de sa Foi.

Ami, tu devrais une fois dans ta vie

Visiter les terres chrétiennes d’Arménie

Celles qui furent historiquement siennes si tu peux

Ou celles de l’actuelle république, qui étonneront tes yeux.

Tu y verras des milliers de ces khatchkars si merveilleusement gravés

Qu’ont croirait leurs sculpteurs par des anges guidés.

De différentes tailles, mais souvent hautes d’environ deux mètres

Leurs corniches s’inclinent comme pour honorer des ancêtres.

Fixés sur un piédestal, parfois encastrés dans des murs d’églises ou de monastères

Tournés vers l’ouest, ils se dressent aussi par milliers dans les cimetières.

Leurs façades ont choisi le roux ou le gris

Par fidélité au tuf ou au grès de leur pays.

Sans vouloir rappeler la mort du Christ, leurs grandes croix centrales sont sculptées

Comme des Arbres de Vie symbolisant la victoire sur la mort et l’immortalité.

Elles veulent relier le passé vécu par l’homme dans un monde inférieur

Au futur qui l’attend au Ciel dans un monde supérieur.

Entourées de grappes de raisin et de grenades pour exprimer la vie

Encadrées par des ornements continus créant une illusion d’infini

Ces croix arméniennes prient pour le salut de l’âme d’héros ou de donateurs

Et protègent les passants contre les démons provoquant leurs malheurs.

Dès le quatrième siècle, ces khatchkars par milliers pieusement construits

Furent maintes fois par des barbares sanguinaires détruits.

Mais ils restent toujours nombreux dressés face à leurs ennemis

Comme des sentinelles, insensibles au vent, à la neige, au soleil ou aux pluies.

Ami, inclines toi avec respect devant ces khatchkars

Car c’est aux forces de l’Esprit qu’ils doivent leur art.

Et dis-toi bien que lorsque la fin de temps sera arrivée

Ces pierres diront ce qu’elles ont vu, car Dieu les fera parler.

Robert SAMOIAN

Auteur de «  La valise de mon oncle, un Legs de Mémoires »

Membre de la Société des Ecrivains Dauphinois

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A reading in Montreal, Canada

Դանիէլ Վարուժան՝ Հեթանոսական Բանաստեղծութիւն, Գ. Պըլտեան՝ «Կրակէ շրջանակը Դ. Վարուժանի շուրջ»

       Կը մեկնաբանէ՝ Նարեկ Ղազարեան

  Տեղի կ’ունենայ 17 Ապրիլ 2016ին, երեկոյեան ժամը 7:00ին
Սուրբ Յակոբ Ազգային վարժարանի
«Բաստրմաճեան» սրահ
3400 RUE NADON, MONTREAL, QC, H4J 1P6

Դիմել՝
Համիկ Ղազարեան 514-582-8233
Թամար Փանոսեան 514-892-0363

Մուտքի նուէր՝ 20$
Ուսանողներու համար՝ 10$

Anny Romand présente son livre « Ma Grand-Mère d’Arménie » à Paris ce 16 avril

Organisé par l'Association Sainte-Croix des Arméniens Catholiques

AU CENTRE CULTUREL SAINT-MESROB A PARIS

Samedi 16 avril à 15h00

Anny ROMAND

(actrice et productrice)

Présentera son livre

Ma grand-mère d'Arménie

Récit de la marche de sa grand-mère en 1915, de son évasion et de son témoignage miséricordieux.

Ecrit à partir des confidences de sa grand-mère et du petit carnet écrit au jour le jour qu'Anny Romand découvrit.

Anny a dédicacé ce récit à sa petite-fille Alicia:

"Elle est plus Arménienne que moi puisque son père est Pascal LEGITIMUS".

Église Catholique Arménienne

10 bis rue Thouin

75005 PARIS

Métro : Cardinal Lemoine ou Monge

RER B : Luxembourg

Vente et dédicace

Entrée libre – Cocktail

Celebrating 20 Years of National Poetry Month

April 1, 2016 Today marks the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month in the United States --  the largest literary celebration in the world -- bringing poetry to schools, libraries, bookstores, and communities.