POETRY INTERNATIONAL - 25th Anniversary Edition

We are thrilled to share that the issue is out, containing a portfolio of contemporary Armenian poets from around the world.

We would love to encourage PI by asking that you purchase copies of this 25th anniversary issue for yourself and your family/Friends, the link is:
https://www.poetryinternationalonline.com/25th-anniversary-issue-table-of-contents/?fbclid=IwAR1thUOYvb0IZopy2Xzu0i5RDgHlBT-6pU4dfAhRBBvhkW80oXbLNOSLac8


Contemporary Poets of the Armenian Diaspora,
edited by ARTHUR KAYZAKIAN & LOLA KOUNDAKJIAN

VAHÉ GODEL, The Law of Numbers/La Loi Des Nombres
SONA VAN, Before the Magi Had Even Reached Bethlehem/ԵՐԲ ՄՈԳԵՐԸ ԴԵՌ ՉԷԻՆ ՀԱՍԵԼ ԲԵԹՂԵՀԵՄ
ANA ARZOUMANIAN, No Lyricism/Nada de Lirismo
ARAM SAROYAN, Saroyan & Minasian
GREGORY DJANIKIAN, Even for the Briefest Moment
ARMEN DAVOUDIAN, Exodus
NORA BAROUDJIAN, On Stage/ԲԵՄԻ ՎՐԱՅ
PETER BALAKIAN, What’s Up
NORA NADJARIAN, Carousel


Many thanks, 

Lola and Arthur (guest editors)

World Poetry Day 2022 Triangulation Project to include Armenian poets and musicians

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Mar 5
UK: Ian Griffiths Ivor Murrell Alex Davis; musician TBA
COLOMBIA/SA: Carolina Zamudio Tallulah Flores Prieto Manuel Iris ; musician Medina
NYC: Joe Roarty Robert Gibbons Dorothy Cantwell ; musician Thomas Vincent Santoriello
comperes Ian Griffiths , Maria María Del Castillo Sucerquia
fb livestream by Walt Whitman Birthplace

Mar 6
BULGARIA; Anton Baev Elka Dimitrova ; Ivan Hristo (poet / musician)
GEORGIA: Shota Iatashvili Paata Shamugia; musician Erekle Deisadze
NYC Billy Cancel Patricia Carragon Chatham Grey; musician Ptr Kozlowski
comperes Anton Baev , Shota Iatashvili
fb livestream by Great Weather for Media

Mar 12
LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY: Octavio Quintanilla Edward Vidaurreire’ne lara silva; musician Ray Perez
KOREA: Hack Hee Kang Park Dukkyu Hanyong Jeong , musician Young Ok Hwang
NYC: Mike Jurkovic Kofi Kofi Fosu Forson Marc Ellot Marc Eliot Stein ; musician Alan Semerdjian
comperes Octavio Quintanilla , Tanya Ko Hong
fb livestream by Calling All Poets

Mar 13
PIACENZA: Antje Stehn Viviana Fiorentino Mauro Ferrari; musician Betty Gilmore and Il principio attivo (plus Sabrina De Canio , Piccolo Museo della Poesia Chiesa di San Cristoforo, Piacenza)
ARMENIA: Lola Koundakjian Nora Nadjarian Arthur Kayzakian; musician Aram Bajakian
NYC: Don Krieger Karen Neuberg Francine Witte ; musician Tom Gould ( Bossa Nova Beatniks)
comperes: Antje Stehn , Lola Koundakjian
fb livestream by Cultivating Voices Live Poetry

Mar 19
ROME: Lucilla Trapazzo Mara Venuto Alessandra Corbetta; musician Ermanno Dodaro
BUCHAREST: Mircea Dan Duta Shurouk Hammoud (SY) Masud Uzaman (BD); musician TBD
NYC: Matthew Hupert Anthony Policano Ngoma Hill ; musician Rick Eckerle
comperes Lucilla Trapazzo , Mircea Dan Duta
fb livestream by NeuroNautic Institute

Mar 20
BOLTON: Melanie Neads Emily Cook Dr Ben Wilkinson; musician Nat Clare
CHENNAI: Srilata Krishnan Poornima Laxmeshwar Hema Praveen; musician The Coconut Milk Project
NYC: Zev Torres Howie Faerstein Cindy Hochman; musician Didi Champagne
comperes Dave Morgan , Sriram Gokul (Sriramgokul Chinnasamy)
fb livestream by Live from Worktown

Arthur Kayzakian: Ararat

After Layli Long Soldier & Czeslaw Milosz

my brothers and sisters call me ara which means friend. 

which is also a name. which can be short for ararat. 

the mountain behind an imaginary line in another country. 

It used to be in the backyard of our home. in a way 

it represents betrayal. in a way it looks like fog in the sky. 

a god with untouchable snow peaks. a long-time friend. 

Like arak or the vodka aragh. meaning we drink and drink 

until the empty bottle rolls off the table. and when it rolls 

the sound of its rumble resembles the growl of a dog. 

the police say we are bad. when punched in the mouth

blood runs down the lip like ice turned water. 

we wipe the chin. our boys learn to place their pain

in a grave. my heart feels like charcoal is what my cousin 

said. his bloody lip trembled. chest out like an elevated rock. 

let it out i said. he wept until the water moistened the caves 

around his eyes. the police say we are bad. but we are just

on bad land. I threw my arm around his shoulder. it’s okay. 

we’re here now. i say it because his lip was on fire. because he is 

my ara. because the police say we are bad. 

the stolen lunch tickets. the bully beat downs. 

the way we crossed the endless borderlands of death.

because we have tried to be boys for an entire generation 

after the loss of our mountain. 

Published in Prairie Schooner Volume 94 | Spring 2020

Arthur Kayzakian: Armenian Folk Dance, 1915

A man and woman hide in their home

to dance amid lit candles.

He kneels as she twirls

around him. 

She raises both arms in the half-

light, and the shadow of her hands—

a bird in flight—brushes the wall.

If this were any other day, she would

clap to the beat of the drum.

She tip toes to keep quiet  

from the crows outside the window

roosting upon crucifixes

that go on, row after row. 

Published in Prairie Schooner Volume 94 | Spring 2020

Arthur Kayzakian: Rain

 After he hugs his family goodbye

         he passes umbrellas and park benches,

 

sees the edge of a vexed flower petal and thinks, 

         the flower is a man off to war.

 

Without looking back,

         he can hear his children kicking 

laughter in and out of him.

        His wife’s throat, a gleam of sandlight.

 

Fifteen years later,

        rain beats out a puddle in the shape of his body.

Published in Prairie Schooner Volume 94 | Spring 2020

Arthur Kayzakian: Mothers Who Raise War Gods, Part 1: The Art of Carcass Dragging

Sahakanush knows her son will be good. 

She reads his tea leaves. 

Each night she pulls three tea bags from a jar, 

extracts dry minted plants and scatters them 

across her den’s wooden floor. Some nights she mixes 

peppermint, pomegranate white, dragon well, jasmine, 

and a spicy blend of masala chai. She brews a hot cup, 

watches steam swirl into the air and disappear. 

Sahakanush calls it skywriting. Anything resembling smoke 

helps her fall asleep. Her son will be good: In the future 

he chops men off their war elephants. Blood spurts on his lip, 

his crotch bulges. In the leaves she is not proud to see death 

captivate him. When she sees something she doesn’t like, 

she brushes her hair mumbling litanies under her breath 

while looking in a mirror.  She meditates on its shine, 

long black strands falling on her face like silk curtains. 

She likes the way he grips the metal plate of his enemy’s vest 

and pulls the body across the soil—

vultures gathering around the trail of blood it leaves behind. 

 

Published in Hyebred Magazine Issue 05 | Spring 2019

Don't Look Away: A Literary Series for Artsakh continues Saturday October 17, 2020

Please join the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA) on Saturday, October 17th at 3:00 PM Eastern for the next installment of Don't Look Away, a literary series raising awareness and funds for #Artsakh, featuring Arthur Kayzakian, Lola Koundakjian, Mashinka F. Hakopian, Armen Davoudian, Nairi Hakhverdi, Alene Terzian and Alan Semerdjian.

Click here to register: http://bit.ly/ArtsakhSeries2