Upcoming Installment of ‘Literary Lights’ Reading Series Features Editor and

The third installment of Literary Lights 2026 will feature the editor and poetry contributors of the landmark anthology, “Remain in Light: Visions of Homeland and Diaspora.” Event host and contributor Shahé Mankerian will be joined by editor Gassia Armenian and fellow Los Angeles-based poets, Tina Demirdjian, Arminé Iknadossian, Arthur Kayzakian and Raffi Joe Wartanian.

The free and virtual event, cosponsored by the Fowler Museum at UCLA, will take place on May 17, at 10 a.m. Register here.

“Remain in Light” endeavors to visualize the contemporary Armenian experience in the homeland and in Los Angeles, home to the largest Armenian population in Diaspora. The first wave of immigrants came to California in the late 1800s; the second was spurred by the Armenian genocide of 1915. Further Armenian migrants, from Soviet Armenia, the Middle East, Iran, and other countries, continue to find solace, pride, and connection in the traditions, customs, religion, language, and memories they brought with them.

Sossi Madzounian, Ara Mgrdichian, and Ara Oshagan, three Diaspora-born Armenian artists living in Los Angeles, share their perspectives on the life of their people in the old world and the new, illuminating the evolving social fabric of Armenian life: survival in the homeland, the immigrant experience in Diaspora, and the rebirth of Armenian Americans on new soil. This book pairs their photographs with poems by LA-based poets Tina Demirdjian, Arminé Iknadossian, Arthur Kayzakian, Shahé Mankerian, and Raffi Joe Wartanian. The volume is a tribute to all these artists, and to Armenians across the globe.

Anthology Editor
Gassia Armenian is a curator and researcher at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, where she conducts collections research and manages exhibitions. She has curated notable exhibitions on Armenian textiles and Diaspora, recognized by the Armenian Academy of Sciences in 2023, and pioneering shows featuring interactive technology. Her current exhibition focuses on the Ifugao people of the Philippines. Previously, she worked with USAID in Armenia on civics education curricula.

Anthology Poetry Contributors
Tina Demirdjian is a poet and teaches poetry in schools and museums in Los Angeles. She is a culture bearer through her art practice, and founder of the Armenian Dress & Textile Project. She is the author of the poetry collection IMPRINT. She is on the Board at Brand Library & Art Center, where she co-facilitates ARTful Conversations in the gallery.

Armine Iknadossian is the author of “All That Wasted Fruit “(Main Street Rag). In 2022, Iknadossian received two grants from the Arts Council of Long Beach to write her second volume of poetry. She has also received fellowships from Idyllwild Arts, The Los Angeles Writing Project and Otis College of Art and Design. She serves on the Advisory Board of IALA. 

Arthur Kayzakian is the finalist for the 2024 Kate Tufts Award, and the winner of the 2021 inaugural Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series for his collection, “The Book of Redacted Paintings” (Black Lawrence Press, 2023), which was also selected as a finalist for the 2021 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. He is the recipient of the 2023 creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a founding member and serves as the Poetry Chair for the International Armenian Literary Alliance. His work has appeared in several publications, including The Adroit Journal, Chicago Review, Cincinnati Review, The Southern Review, among other journals.

Shahé Mankerian is principal of St. Gregory Hovsepian School in Pasadena and Director of Mentorship at the International Armenian Literary Alliance. A former co-director of the Los Angeles Writing Project, he is the author of “History of Forgetfulness” (2021), a semifinalist for the Khayrallah Prize and finalist for several national poetry awards.

Raffi Joe Wartanian is a writer, musician, and educator who teaches writing at UCLA and serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate in the City of Glendale, California. A 2025-2026 Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Academy of American Poets, and elsewhere.

Literary Lights 2025 is a monthly reading series organized by the International Armenian Literary Alliance, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, and the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. Each event—held online or in-person—will feature a writer reading from their work, followed by a discussion with an interviewer and audience members. Read along with the series by purchasing “Remain in Light” and more titles at IALA’s Bookshop.org storefront

Missed the last Literary Lights 2026 event featuring “Rose by the Sea” author Rebecca Rose Mooradian? Watch the full recording here.

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