ՅԻՇԷՔ Hishek: Armenian Writers on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Tuesday, April 24 at 7 PM - 9 PM

Babycastles, 145 W 14th St, New York, New York 10011

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Alina Gregorian
Christopher Atamian
Aida Zilelian
Lola Koundakjian

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Alina Gregorian is a poet and artist, and author of the chapbooks Flags for Adjectives (Diez) and Navigational Clouds (Monk Books). Some poems can be found in Boston Review, Prelude, BOMB Magazine, among others. Alina lives in Brooklyn, NY and can be found here alinagregorian.com.

Christopher Atamian is a writer and creative producer of Armenian and Italian background and the grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors. He studied comparative literature as an undergrad at Harvard; television and film production at USC Film School and international marketing at Columbia Business School. Apart from creative endeavors and professional activities as a senior executive in leading media companies and consultancies (ABC, Ogilvy & Mather, Hill + Knowlton Strategies), Atamian has concentrated on community activism. He is the former President and a current board member of AGLA New York, and in 2004 founded Nor Alik, a non-profit cultural organization responsible for producing the First New York Armenian International Film Festival. Atamian also co-produced the OBIE Award-winning play Trouble in Paradise in 2006, as well as several music videos and short films. He was selected for the 2009 Venice Biennale on the basis of his video Sarafian’s Desire and received a 2015 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He continues to contribute critical pieces to leading publications such as The New York Times Book Review, The Huffington Post, SCENES Media and The Weekly Standard. His first book of poetry A Poet in Washington Heights was published this year by Nauset Press and awarded the 2017 Tölölyan Literary Prize. He was born and still resides in New York City with his dog Chip.

Aida Zilelian is a New York City writer. Her novel THE LEGACY OF LOST THINGS was released in March 2015 (Bleeding Heart Publications) and was the recipient of the 2014 Tololyan Literary Award. Her stories have been published in over twenty-five journals and several anthologies. She has been featured on NPR, the New York Times, the Huffington Post, Kirkus Reviews, among other radio and print platforms. She is also the curator of Boundless Tales, the longest-running reading series in Queens, NY. She recently completed her second novel, The Last Echo Through the Plains. Her short story collection These Hills Were Meant for You was shortlisted in the 2018 Katherine Anne Porter Prize.

Lola Koundakjian is a regular reader in New York City and has appeared in four international poetry festivals. She curates a poetry reading series at the Zohrab Information Center in midtown Manhattan, and since 2006, has promoted Armenian culture with texts, translations and audio for the Armenian Poetry Project. She is the author of The Accidental Observer (2011 USA) and Advice to a Poet (2014 Peru; 2015 USA). Her work has also appeared in journals and anthologies on three continents. www.lolakoundakjian.com