Meet IALA’s New Advisory Board Members
We are honored to introduce International Armenian Literary Alliance’s newest advisory board members, Jennifer Manoukian and Alene Terzian-Zeitounian!
Jennifer Manoukian is a literary translator from Western Armenian and historian of Armenian language practices and ideologies. She earned her PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is the co-founder of Gesaria Armenian Research and Academic Services, a research, historical translation and editorial company focused on enriching the study and creative output of the Armenian past and present. Her book length translations include The Gardens of Silihdar by Zabel Yessayan and The Candidate by Zareh Vorpouni, a co-translation with Ishkhan Jinbashian. Her first monograph, Purist Pursuits: Language, Global Ideas, and the Creation of Western Armenian in the Ottoman Empire, will be published by Stanford University Press in June 2026.
Dr. Alene Terzian-Zeitounian is a Lebanese-Armenian poet, educator, and globally minded leader whose work is rooted in questions of identity, advocacy, and equity. She holds an M.A. and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry), as well as a doctorate in Education, Leadership, and Innovation. She serves as Humanities Department Chair at College of the Canyons, where she teaches creative writing and is the faculty advisor of cul-de-sac, the college’s Literary and Arts Magazine, now in its 19th volume. In addition to her work in academia, Alene is the Chief Advisor and Facilitator at Culturally Intelligent Training and Consulting where she works with corporate, nonprofit, education, and small business leaders to design cultural strategies that align individual development with organizational success. She lives in Torrance, California, with her husband and daughter.