Author: Harutyunian Christine

6/4/08

PRESS RELEASE:
Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance
Contact: Jane Minasian: 781 643 5638
[email protected]

ADAA’S FIRST ANNUAL ARMENIAN FILM FESTIVAL AT THE MFA WOWS BOSTON AUDIENCES

BOSTON, MA: The First Annual Boston Armenian Film Festival was held
at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston on May 30th, May 31st, and June
1st. Film enthusiasts from the greater Boston area filled Remis
Auditorium each night to view a program of critically acclaimed, award
winning films by Armenian filmmakers.

The Armenian Film Festival was the result of a collaboration between
the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance
(ADAA). The Armenia Fund USA, Inc., sponsored a reception for the
audience and filmmakers on the first night of the festival.

Said Bianca Bagatourian, President of ADAA, "The mission of ADAA is to
project the Armenian voice on stage and screen around the world, and
we are grateful to the MFA for giving us this opportunity to further
our mission."

Bo Smith, Director of the MFA’s film department, who greeted a sell-
out crowd on opening night, expressed his support of the Armenian
Film Festival and welcomed the return of the festival next year. ADAA
Board Member Paul Boghosian, who MC’d the reception on Saturday night
said, `I am enormously pleased that the young filmmakers whose films
were presented here will receive the benefit of having their films
showcased at the MFA.’

"The Lark Farm", the deeply moving 2007 drama about the Armenian
genocide adapted from the novel of the same name by Antonio Arslan,
and directed by the famous Italian filmmakers, the Tavianni Brothers,
opened the festival to a full house on Friday night.

Saturday night audiences viewed the hilarious dark comedy by Gor
Kirakosian, "Big Story in a Small City," (in Armenian with English
subtitles) which was followed by a panel discussion featuring
Armenian American filmmakers Carla Garapedian, Michael Goorjian, Gor
Kirakosian and Hrag Yedalian, and moderated by ADAA founder and
president Bianca Bagatourian. The filmmakers were flown in from
California to attend the festival thanks to the generosity of the
local chapter of the Knights of Vartan, whose commander commented,
`This weekend was one of the best and most successful weekends in the
history of the Armenian community in Massachusetts. ADAA united
Armenians from all walks of life.’

The Sunday screenings of the documentaries "The People’s Advocate: The
Life and Times of Charles R. Garry" (a feature-length documentary
about Charles Garry – one of the most influential criminal defense
attorneys of the twentieth century) by Hrag Yedalian and "The War
Prayer" (adapted from Mark Twain’s pacifist short story) by Michael
Goorjian were followed by an opportunity for the audience to converse
with the filmmakers. Historian and social activist Howard Zinn, who
appeared in Hrag Yedalian’s documentary `The People’s Advocate’, said
that the film was powerful and a testament to Yedalian’s future as a
filmmaker.

"Calendar" (about a photographer who nurses a broken heart) and "A
Portrait of Arshile" (a film about the naming of the filmmaker’s son)
by Canadian Armenian filmmaker Atom Egoyan, concluded the festival.

Award-winning actress Karen Kondazian, (ADAA Board of Directors) who
flew in from Los Angeles, was effusive in her praise for the event.
"The Festival was extraordinary. It is so exciting for all of us to be
supporting our first truly professional east coast Armenian Film
Festival. I was moved by the quality and choices of the films and am
looking forward to returning for our Second Armenian Film Festival
next year!" The festival was given encouragement and attended by
members of all of the Armenian organizations of greater Boston.
Bethel Bilezikian Charkoudian, ADAA Board Member, noted that "For
years, the dream of the Armenian community of greater Boston has been
to have a yearly Armenian Film Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts
Boston. Thanks to Bo Smith, Director of the Film Department at the
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, through the unstinting efforts of Bianca
Bagatourian of the Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance and together with
the collaboration of the Armenian community, our dream has become a
reality."

(Photographs by Karoun Charkoudian)

Bo Smiith, Head of Film, MFA, BOSTON

MFA Audience at the film festival, 2008, May 30th

> Filmmakers Hrag Yedalian, Michael Goorjian, Carla Garapedian, Gor
> Kirakosian and ADAA President Bianca Bagatourian
> at MFA/ADAA Panel Discussion, 2008
> Raffi Festekjian, Armenia Fund USA, Chairman, Bianca Bagatourian,
> President, Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance

ARMENIAN YOUTH GIVE A HAND IN STOPPING GENOCIDE IN DARFUR

armradio.am
03.06.2008 10:47

Hundreds of Armenian youth from the Armenian Youth Federation
(AYF), Eastern, U.S. gathered at the annual Junior Seminar this
past Memorial Day weekend to take part in educational, athletic,
and social activities that are geared towards creating a fraternal
Armenian atmosphere for all members, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America, Eastern Region (ANCA-ER)

Among the organized schedule of speakers was ANCA-ER Executive Director
Karine Birazian who spoke to groups on becoming active on Armenian
issues and the importance of grassroots mobilization.

During her lecture entitled "Got Hai Tahd," Birazian focused on the
genocide in Darfur and why it is critical that Armenian youth become
involved in attempting to stop it.. "We must be the voice for those
Darfurians today. In 1915, when Armenians did not have a voice, others,
who never had even heard of an Armenian, helped," commented Birazian
during her lecture.

Following her lectures, Birazian had the youth place their hands in
red paint and then on a large cloth provided for them. The activity,
encourage by Africa Action, is sending a message to President Bush
that we are all witnesses to the ongoing genocide today in Darfur.

Those present in Birazian’s lecture also received information on key
issues that the ANCA is working on, including economic and military
aid to Armenia, the nomination of a new U.S. ambassador to Armenia, and
the current status of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. Activists also
learned how to call their representatives, as well as learning where
their Members stand on issues of importance to Armenian Americans.

Among the lecturers were several ANCA activists in leadership roles,
including: George Aghjayan; ANCA ER Board member: Serouj Aprahamian;
ANCA Capital Gateway Program Director; Ara Chalian, ANC of Pennsylvania
Chairman; and Zohrab Khaligian, ANC of Wisconsin Chairman, as well
as community volunteers.

NOBODY EXPLAINED IN WHICH DIRECTION ARMENIA FOUNDATION WILL BE DEVELOPING

KarabakhOpen
03-06-2008 12:00:34

On May 27, 2008 the 17th meeting of the board of trustees of
Armenia Foundation took place at the conference hall of the Armenian
government.

During the meeting a number of important issues were discussed,
and important decisions expected were expected to be made. Before
the meeting we published a series of materials which pointed
to the shortcomings of the activities of the Foundation. It
referred to the quality of work done, the relations between the
NKR government and the foundation, the lack of control, and the
factor of confidence. Apparently, all these issues were discussed
in the meeting. At least, the official news release of Armenia
Foundation holds: "The foundation is an established organization
with an experience of 16 years, however as any living being it needs
modernization to face modern challenges."

After the meeting the NKR president and prime minister who
participated in the meeting of the board did not hold a news
conference and did not explain how the relations between the
foundation and the government will continue, in the former manner
or will be modernized. It is possible that silence is determined
by alleged changes in the Foundation. More exactly, the executive
director Vahe Aghabekyans is said to be replaced. The person who
unlike the previous directors confessed that the current mechanism
of the Foundation needs modernization.

Vahe Aghabekyans who visited Karabakh a few months ago and signed
an agreement with the government (it turns out that cooperation has
been without an agreement so far). It is true that the office of the
Foundation was not set up but nevertheless.

It was noted in the report of Aghabekyans that in 2007 the Foundation
continued its work. "In particular, about 30 km of water pipelines
were operated." "I would like to note that the program of gasifying
Hadrut and the reconstruction of the regional hospital, as well as
the renovation of the school of the village of Togh continue. I would
also like to inform that recently an agreement has been signed with
the government of Artsakh to finish the construction of the unfinished
highway South-North," Vahe Hovanisyan said.

He also offered a proposal on the improvement of the activities of
the Foundation, in particular, the necessity for amendments to the
regulations of the organization.

As to future, one thing is clear that the programs affirmed for 2007
will continue. The next telethon will be devoted to the program of
development of rural areas in Armenia and Artsakh.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN THANKED SIRUSHO FOR PRESENTING ARMENIA WITH DIGNITY

armradio.am
03.06.2008 18:13

Today President Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting with Sirusho, who took
the 4th position at the Eurovision 2008 Song Contest, President’s
Press Office reported.

Sirusho was awarded with certificate of the President of the Republic
of Armenia for presenting Armenia with dignity. Serzh Sargsyan said the
4th place at such a renowned contest is a great success for Armenia.

The President thanked Sirusho for the impressive performance and for
keeping high the reputation of our country, thus greatly contributing
to Armenia’s fame.

Sirusho said she received great support from Armenia and the
Diaspora. She noted that the Armenian song became very popular not
only among Armenians but also the foreigners and added she has received
a number of suggestions of cooperation.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN MET WITH BUSINESSMAN EDUARDO ERNEKIAN

armradio.am
04.06.2008 14:48

President Serzh Sargsyan today received famous Argentinean Armenian
businessman, President of the "Armenian International Airport"
Company Eduardo Ernekian.

Eduardo Ernekian is confident that under Serzh Sargsyan’s leadership
Armenia’s progress will continue and the President will manage to
solve the main problems facing the country.

Noting that his success is largely associated with the success of
everyone, the President said: "The success of your activity is a
component of the common success. If we have normal results in the
economy, we shall manage to allocate greater means to solving the
social issues ad reinforcing security."

Eduardo Ernekian concisely presented their investment programs in
different spheres. He attached special importance to the filed of
agriculture, where they invest great efforts and means. The businessman
informed also that the large-scale program of development of the
centre of the capital.

PRESS RELEASE-UCLA-June 5, 2008
UCLA Center for European and Eurasian Studies
CONTACT: <Jim Robbins> [email protected]

PROFESSOR HOVANNISIAN HONORED IN YEREVAN

UCLA-Professor Richard G. Hovannisian, AEF Chair in Modern Armenian
History at UCLA, was honored by the Armenian National Academy of
Sciences in a book launch ("shnorhandes") that coincided with
celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the heroic battles of May 1918
and the founding of the Republic of Armenia.

Sardarabad Conference

In Armenia for two weeks in May, Hovannisian was a plenary speaker at a
two-day conference (May 16-17) at the Sardarabad Memorial Park and
Museum on the occasion of the battles in May 1918 which made possible
the establishment of a small republic around Yerevan, the re-creation of
Armenian statehood for the first time in more than five centuries, and
the formation of a nucleus around which it was hoped a free,
independent, and united Armenian homeland would emerge.

In his presentation, Hovannisian reflected on the battles of Sardarabad,
Bash-Abaran, and Karakilisa, as well as certain aspects of the history
of the Armenian republic which require further examination. During the
conference, he was interviewed by Nune Aleksanian of the state
television H-1 and by Zinuzh, a program prepared by and intended for the
Armenian armed forces.

Academy of Sciences "Shorhandes"

On May 20, Hovannisian was honored in the Presidium of the Armenian
Academy of Sciences on the occasion of the publication of the Russian
translation of 16 chapters dealing with international relations from his
four-volume The Republic of Armenia series. This was the culmination of
ten years of labor by the initial translator, Gayane Makhmourian,
refined by the meticulous editing of Vartiter Kotcholosian Hovannisian.
The overflow gathering was welcomed by President of the Academy, Radik
Martirosyan, followed by an effective analysis of the work by History
Institute Director Ashot Melkonyan, anecdotes about Hovannisian’s
research and interactions in Yerevan during the Soviet era by the
Academy’s Vice President for Armenian Studies, Volodiia Barkhudaryan,
and words of commendation by researcher Rem Khazanchyan, Chair of
Armenian Studies at Yerevan State University Babgen Harutunyan
Ambassador of Ukraine Oleksandr Bozhko, Prelate of the Adrbadakan
Diocese (Tabriz) Bishop Nshan Topouzian, Archbishiop Navasard Kchoyan of
the Ararat Diocese (representing His Holiness Garegin II), and Raffi K
Hovannisian, head of the Heritage faction of the National Assembly and
founding director of the Armenian Center for National and International
Studies (ACNIS).

Joining the many scholars and public figures in attendance were
representatives of Georgia, Bulgaria, the United States, and the
European Union, members of the Armenian National Assembly, including
education and science committee chair Hranush Hakobian, President of the
Writers’ Union, Levon Ananyan, and longtime friend Vahak Hovnanian. In
his response, Professor Hovannisian reflected on the significance of the
Armenian republic and the lessons to be learned from the experiences of
1914-1921. He emphasized the importance of making Armenian history and
issues known to non-Armenian scholars, officials, and public through
publications such as this 900-page volume in Russian (Mezhdunarodnye
otnosheniia Respubliki Armeniia, 1918-1922 gg.). The "shnorhandes"
received extensive television and radio coverage. That same morning,
prior to the program, Professor Hovannisian was publicly introduced and
welcomed in a session of the Armenian National Assembly by Speaker
Tigran Torosyan.

The Media and Other Activities

While in Yerevan, Hovannisian gave numerous media interviews, including,
among others, "360 Degrees" with Tatevik Nalpbandyan (H-1); "Hraparak"
with Vardan (Yerkir Media); "Bari Loys" with Mesrop Arakelyan (H-1),
‘Harenik/Spiurk" with Alina Sargsyan (Armenia TV), and "Urvagits" with
Petros Ghazaryan (Kendron). He gave two half-hour history talks for the
archives of "Our History" with Irina Hovhannisyan for Armenian Public
Radio, a press conference with the Friday Press Club, and journal
interviews of Newmag and the Agos weekly of Istanbul, He also attended
the 80th concert-celebration of the Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational
Association and the opening public session of the 30th General Meeting
of the ARF.

In addition, prior to his departure for Armenia, Richard Hovannisian was
the keynote speaker at Temple Isaiah in Lexington, Massachusetts, in a
joint commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and Yom ha’Shoah (May 3);
distinguished lecturer for Sonoma State University’s annual genocide
program (May 6), and speaker on Armenian-Jewish relations at Long Beach
State University and the Alpert Jewish Community Center (May 12).

END

Attached Photographs:

1. Academy of Sciences, Archbishiop Navasard Kchoyan, Professor
Hovannisian, Academy President Radik Martirosyan (May 20)
2. Richard and Raffi Hovannisian, Sardarabad (May 16)
3. Richard Hovannisian, Sardarabad (May 16)

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email [email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
June 4, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA WELCOMES OBAMA CLINCHING DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION

— ANCA Endorsed Candidate in January During Heat of Presidential
Primary Contest

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
applauded Presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s hard-fought victory
in securing a majority of the delegates needed to become the
presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

"As we stated back in January, during the heat of this hotly
contested and highly competitive primary season, Senator Obama
clearly represents the candidate best positioned to bring about
fundamental change in how the United States addresses Armenian
American issues," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We
welcome this powerful milestone in his campaign for the Presidency
and join with Armenian Americans from across the country in
congratulating him for this great and historic success. At the
same time, we want to share our respect for Senator Clinton, our
profound admiration for the tremendous race she ran, and our
appreciation for her strong and steady support for issues of
special concern to our community."

The ANCA endorsed Sen. Obama in January of this year, following a
strong statement from the candidate to the Armenian American
community calling for passage of Armenian Genocide legislation and
pledging to end U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denial of that crime
against humanity. "The facts are undeniable," stated Sen. Obama in
his January 19th statement. "An official policy that calls on
diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy.
As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will
recognize the Armenian Genocide."

Sen. Obama continued to talk about the ongoing Genocide in Darfur,
stating "I have visited Darfurian refugee camps, pushed for the
deployment of a robust multinational force for Darfur, and urged
divestment from companies doing business in Sudan. America deserves
a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and
responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that
President." That sentiment echoed in his victory speech in St.
Paul, MN yesterday evening, when Sen. Obama stated, "It’s time to
refocus our efforts on Al Qaida’s leadership and Afghanistan, and
rally the world against the common threats of the 21st Century:
terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide
and disease. That’s what change is."

During a January 31st press conference at the ANCA Western Region
Headquarters announcing the ANCA’s endorsement of Sen. Obama in the
Democratic primaries, ANCA National Board member Raffi Hamparian
explained, "Today, we endorse an individual, a Senator, a leader –
a purveyor of hope – who can change the tone, tenor, and policies
in Washington, DC. We, as an organization, believe that Barack
Obama is the individual to get this job done." Hamparian was
joined Armenians for Obama Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian, who
concurred, noting that, "Barack Obama, on the key issues of
importance to our community, has adopted very favorable positions.
Whether it is recognition of the Armenian Genocide, aid to Armenia,
or self-determination and independence for Karabagh, on all of
these issues, Barack Obama is with us." Among the many elected
officials who pledged their support for Sen. Obama early on were
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and LA City Council President Eric
Garcetti, both in attendance at the press conference. Rep. Schiff
would later join ANCA regional representatives on the Horizon
Armenian television in the days reaching up to the critical Super
Tuesday primaries, encouraging Armenian American support for Obama.

Watch the ANCA press conference at:
ses.php?prid=1373

In the subsequent months leading to yesterday’s victory, ANCA and
Armenians for Obama activists have volunteered with local
campaigns, made targeted phone calls to tens of thousands of
Armenian Americans in key states in support of the Presidential
hopeful.

ANCA Election Outreach 2008

The ANCA primary endorsement of Senator Obama followed extensive
outreach to each of the Democratic and Republican presidential
hopefuls. In addition to Sen. Obama, Senators Hillary Clinton,
John Edwards and John McCain had expressed their views on issues of
concern to the Armenian American community. To read more about the
individual responses from the presidential candidates, visit:

Sen. Barack Obama:
leases.php?prid=1365

Sen. Hillary Clinton:
releases.php?prid=1367

Sen. John Edwards:
releases.php?prid=1369

Sen. John McCain:
eleases.php?prid=1375

#####

NONFOOD COMMODITY PRICES GROW BY 1.3% IN ARMENIA IN MAY

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 2, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 2, NOYAN TAPAN. 1.3% inflation in Armenia’s nonfood
commodity market in May on April 2008 was somewhat influenced by the
growth in prices of gasoline (5.7%) and diesel fuel (7.5%).

According to the RA National Statistical Service, there was 4%
inflation in the commodity group of building materials in May 2008
on May 2007 and 2.1% inflation in May on April 2008. The latter
growth was mainly conditioned by a rise in prices of plaster (2.8%)
and cement (7.3%).

0.1-1.7% inflation was registered in the commodity groups of textiles,
kitchen utensils, stationery, jewelry, medicines, cosmetics, furniture,
domestic electric appliances, horticultural items, footwear and
detergents in May on April 2008. Prices of cultural goods and fuel
fell by 0.7-2% in the indicated period, while carpet prices remained
at the level of the previous month.

NEW PUBLICATION FROM CAR "RAPHAEL LEMKIN’S DOSSIER ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE"

AZG Armenian Daily
03/06/2008

Armenian Genocide

Raphael Lemkin was one of the greatest and most influential lawyers
and human rights activists in the last century. Not only did he coin
the word "genocide," but was also the prime mover for the enactment
of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of
Genocide (the "Genocide Convention"), the international law document
that in 1948 made genocide an international "crime of crimes."

Distressed by the cyclical slaughter of Armenians by Turks in 1894,
1909, and 1915, Lemkin compiled a dossier and searched for legal
remedies to punish perpetrators of mass murder and to deter and
prevent future genocides.

"Raphael Lemkin’s Dossier on the Armenian Genocide," a stunningly
graphic book published by CAR.,the Center for Armenian Remembrance,
constitutes an important contribution for scholars, human rights
activists and others seeking to know what the originator of the term
genocide and the "father" of the Genocide Convention had to say about
the Armenian Genocide.

This timely book, which was published through the efforts of Attorney
Vartkes Yeghiayan, is the perfect antidote to the denialist campaign
that has lately intensified by the banning of a book in Toronto and
its replacement by books by denialist historians Bernard Lewis and
Guenther Levy.

It is impossible not to be touched by the eyewitness reports that
Lemkin has meticulously compiled in this dossier. The reader will
quickly be convinced that the brutal campaign against the Armenians
is the very definition of Genocide. This book has the power to inflame
the reader with indignation, sorrow and righteous anger.

"Raphael Lemkin’s Dossier on the Armenian Genocide" also contains
a lucid foreword by eminent professor Michael J. Bazyler, and a
meticulous, complete bibliography on Lemkin by Eddie Yeghiayan.

"Raphael Lemkin’s Dossier on the Armenian Genocide" is the fifth book
in the "The Armenian Genocide and the Armenian Case" series put out by
CAR Publishing. It can be purchased at CAR Publishing P.O.Box 250322
Glendale, Ca 91225 USA, , and Armenian bookstores.

TMCnet
June 1 2008

Will Saroyan’s literary legacy be lost?

(Fresno Bee (CA) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jun. 1–William
Saroyan was a comet in the literary sky from 1934 through the
mid-1940s. Before his light began to fade, he was compared to the
brightest stars.

At the height of his fame, Saroyan was depicted in a cartoon, sitting
on a teeter-totter with George Bernard Shaw and vying for the title of
"World’s Greatest Writer." As a short-story writer, beginning with
"The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" in 1934, and playwright,
with works such as his 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "The Time of
Your Life," he was as well-known as Ernest Hemingway and John
Steinbeck.

"In 1942, he was No. 1 in readership and name recognition," said
Dickran Kouymjian, a friend of Saroyan and retired chairman of the
Armenian studies program at California State University, Fresno.

But things changed for Saroyan after World War II. His light dimmed,
leaving future generations to ponder what happened and to wonder
whether that light might ever return.

Experts see no simple reason for Saroyan’s flagging popularity. He
didn’t retire, nor did he flame out. He remained a writer to the end,
which makes his long fade-out as fascinating as his rapid rise.

Saroyan rose to prominence by being ahead of his time, said David
Calonne, a lecturer in the English department at Eastern Michigan
University and the author of "William Saroyan: My Real Work Is Being."
His stories were kettles of ethnic stew long before multiculturalism
was popular. Not only did he write about Armenians, he also worked
Mexicans, Filipinos, Italians and members of other ethnic groups into
his tales.

"He also was way ahead of his time in terms of style," Calonne
added. "His work was very lyrical and poetic, with a Walt Whitmanlike
line that was new in American prose."

Saroyan’s creative energy helped fuel his rapid rise. After breaking
into print in 1934, he wrote, by his own account, 100 short stories a
year for five years. His work appeared before television took over
American homes and short stories fell out of fashion.

Saroyan came on the national scene during the Great Depression, and
readers often saw themselves in his stories, which gave them hope that
the human spirit could survive.

Another trait that set Saroyan apart was his ability to cross genres
as a writer, said Michael Kovacs, who teaches English and creative
writing at Gavilan College in Gilroy. He began as a master of the
short story, saw his plays produced on Broadway, wrote song lyrics and
novels and, toward the end of his life, reflected on the past through
memoirs.

Saroyan’s personality also helped keep him in the public eye. When he
refused the $1,000 Pulitzer Prize money for "The Time of Your Life,"
he cast himself, intentionally or not, as anti-establishment.

"He didn’t come out of Harvard or Yale," Kovacs said. "He taught him-
self to write."

Jack Kerouac and the other Beat Generation writers were influenced by
Saroyan.

"The beats were reading Saroyan for his message and his experiments
with writing," he said.

In his book, Calonne calls Saroyan a "literary godfather" to the Beat
Generation:

"In his early prose, Saroyan was a true innovator, spawning a fresh
new style — a fusion of jazz, Whitman, the quick tempi of American
life, popular songs and the oral tradition of Armenian literature. It
is precisely this oral, musical dimension of Saroyan’s prose-poetry,
along with its emphasis on immediate, passionate experience, which
appealed so powerfully to the Beats: his words are meant to be heard."

Paul Marion, in his introduction to "Atop an Underwood," a collection
of 60 unpublished works by Kerouac, tells of a poem Kerouac wrote at
age 18 in which he said he would "nibble at some sweet Saroyan" for
dessert when he fed his head with books.

But Saroyan’s legacy suffers because he has no great novels to his
credit, said Fresno journalist and writer Mark Arax, who knew Saroyan.

"He was spontaneous," Arax said. "He wrote in these incredible bursts
of energy and creativity. That kind of talent served him best in short
stories. I think he found the writing of the great American novel, and
all the character development you have to do, a little tedious."

With no serious novels they could celebrate, critics could easily
write Saroyan off as simply a Depression-era writer of lovely short
stories, Arax said.

Several other explanations have been offered for Saroyan’s declining
popularity after World War II.

"Some people say he was too senti- mental," Calonne observed. "They
saw him as this sweet Santa Claus figure from the 1930s who was
speaking to a different mood in the post-nuclear age."

A new generation of critics trashed Saroyan’s writing style and
faulted him for not addressing social issues in his work, said Saroyan
scholar Micah Jendian, a Fresno native who teaches English at
Grossmont College in El Cajon.

The literary establishment believed stories should have structure, but
Saroyan was a native storyteller who didn’t always use conventional
plot techniques.

Kouymjian, who addressed this conflict in an essay entitled "Who Reads
Saroyan Today?" believes critics found Saroyan’s unorthodox style
difficult to categorize and failed to understand that he was using
imagination as the form for his plays.

Saroyan’s ego, which manifested itself in a stubborn refusal to revise
his work or to take criticism lightly, also contributed to his ebbing
status.

Rather than accept editorial changes, Saroyan found it easier to
change publishers.

Random House published Saroyan’s first collection of short stories but
refused to include everything he submitted for his second anthology,
"Inhale and Exhale." The disagreement caused Saroyan to cut his ties
with Random House after the second book came out.

"Saroyan didn’t want to work on revisions, so he went to a different
publisher," Kouymjian said, noting that learning to work with editors
might have extended his period of popularity.

Saroyan’s voice as a writer also got in the way.

"He had such an incredible voice," Arax said. "The problem was it
became his gift and curse. He never moved beyond his voice. It was so
booming and so Godlike, from the sky, he was constrained by it. He
never developed characters that had other voices. All his characters
were Saroyan. I think that explains why he made a mark in literature,
but it also explains why critics today see him as one-dimensional."

Saroyan’s ultimate place in American literature is open to
question. Some doubt he will ever regain the stature he once
enjoyed. Others be- lieve he may be rediscovered some-day.

"Right now, there isn’t much of a place for him in American
literature," Kovacs said. "Saroyan is not studied in school, and
unless he is taught, he won’t be in the literary canon."

Saroyan’s works are not required reading in the Fresno and Clovis
school districts, although teachers are free to incorporate them into
literature classes.

The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State offers a course on
Saroyan, but the English Department does not, even though department
Chairman James Walton admires the writer.

Walton said professors tend to teach what they studied in graduate
school, which may be one reason why interest in Saroyan is lagging.

"I don’t recall ever seeing a presentation on Saroyan at a meeting of
the Modern Language Association of America," he said, referring to the
nation’s foremost association of language and literary scholars.

Saroyan short stories have started to reappear in anthologies, Calonne
said. That exposure could gain Saroyan a new generation of fans, he
added, but it may not be enough to generate the kind of critical
reappraisal needed to elevate his stature.

"What is needed is for some well- known critics to take up the cause,"
Calonne said.

Jendian believes critics will rediscover Saroyan.

"I see it coming," he said. "In Saroyan, you have a writer who was
dedicated to artistic integrity. A closer examination of his work will
yield that kind of relevance."

Forgotten writers have been rediscovered before, he said, citing Zora
Neale Hurston as an example. Hurston was a folklorist and writer who
died in obscurity in 1960. Interest in her work was renewed in 1975
when African-American novelist Alice Walker wrote an article "In
Search of Zora Neale Hurston" for Ms. magazine.

The 20 years when Saroyan was at the top of his game are worth looking
at, Kovacs said. That productive period, plus Saroyan’s influence on
writers such as Kerouac, could revive critical interest, he said.

"The literary stock market goes up and down," said Aram Saroyan, son
of William Saroyan. "It’s capricious. My father’s standing right now
is unclear. He once said to me that a writer is remembered for his
best stuff, not his worst stuff. The highest level of my father’s work
stands with anyone in his literary generation."

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