PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Phone: 617-489-1610
Fax: 617-484-1759
E-mail: [email protected]
DAVID KHERDIAN TO DISCUSS ANTHOLOGY
OF ARMENIAN AMERICAN WRITERS AT NAASR
Acclaimed poet, editor, and memoirist David Kherdian will discuss the
newly-published anthology Forgotten Bread: First-Generation Armenian
American Writers, of which he is the editor, on Thursday, October 18, at
8:00 p.m., at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
(NAASR) Center, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA.
By compiling and editing the ambitious and unprecedented anthology
Forgotten Bread, Kherdian has taken on the task of recovering a
literature many of whose voices are forgotten or too little known today.
He says, "our stories contain us and reveal us and inform us and nurture
us, filling us with the real pride that comes from having lived and
endured, not only with our lives intact, but with our stories told. For
without our stories we are nothing."
Literature "Reveals Ourselves To Ourselves"
Kherdian adds, "I believe that one of the results of this anthology is
that America will see us differently after this, and more importantly we
will see ourselves differently. We’ve been fighting the wrong battle:
to be exonerated, understood, appreciated, valued, and to have a place
in the world, to point to ourselves with pride, etc. We have looked to
the world for this, instead of looking to find and make and reveal this
for ourselves and to ourselves. This is what this book is going to make
known for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. For those who
can’t see this, best to close the book of life and go to sleep."
Kherdian will discuss the importance and vitality of the generation of
writers he has documented in Forgotten Bread – their importance in their
own time and in ours – and offer some context to the better
understanding of their work. In addition to Kherdian, also present will
be Helene Pilibosian, whose poetry is included in the anthology, and
Gary Goshgarian, who wrote an essay on Revere-born author Richard
Hagopian.
David Kherdian is widely recognized as one of the most important and
distinctive voices in Armenian-American poetry over the last four
decades. Among his enormous output of poetry, memoirs, and children’s
books are Homage to Adana, Friends: A Memoir, I Remember Root River, The
Dividing River/The Meeting Shore, Letters To My Father, The Road From
Home, and The Golden Bracelet (illustrated by his wife, Caldecott Award
winner Nonny Hogrogian). He has served as the editor of Ararat
Quarterly, Forkroads: A Journal of Ethnic American Literature, and
Stopinder: A Gurdjieff Journal for Our Time. He has founded three small
presses: The Giligia Press, Two Rivers Press, and The Press at Butternut
Creek.
The NAASR Center is located opposite the First Armenian Church and next
to the U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available around the building
and in adjacent areas. The lecture will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.
More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing [email protected], or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.