Hanging Loose Issue 119 Guest Edited by Alan Semerdjian

Eleven Armenian writers from around the globe are featured in a specially curated section of the current issue of Hanging Loose, the oldest independent literary journal in the United States. Every semi-annual issue—roughly a hundred pages of work by U.S. and international writers—turns over about twenty percent of the magazine to a guest editor, who selects poets and poems for that special section, sometimes with a particular theme.

In this issue—Hanging Loose number 119, just out—distinguished Armenian-American poet and IALA advisory board member Alan Semerdjian is guest editor. In the introduction to his selection of work by Armenian and Armenian-American poets, titled Through the Darkest Corridors, Semerdjian says:

Wherever we are, there is Armenia. And wherever Armenia is,

there is the ghost of the Genocide hovering near it, inextricably

tied. May we all learn from that which haunts us, and may it be-

come our greatest folio of instruction. 

Thus the section focuses on the continuing impact of the Armenian Genocide, as it affects contemporary writers’ lives, memories, and art. All the poems are in English, though some are translations from Armenian. For those, the original Armenian language versions appear on facing pages—a proud first for Hanging Loose.

We are proud that so many of the writers and translators featured in the volume are IALA members:  Diana Arterian, Peter Balakian, Lory Bedikian, Tamar Marie Boyadjian, Gregory Djanikian, Karén Karslyan, Margarit Ordukhanyan, and Sarah Giragosian.

 

Alan Semerdjian is an Armenian-American writer, a musician, and an educator. Recent recognitions include two Pushcart Prize nominations; a Frontier New Poets Award; poems in Poetry International, The Brooklyn Rail, Fence, and Hanging Loose; and a tweet from Kim Kardashian that made his 2020 spoken word album The Serpent and The Crane (with guitarist/composer Aram Bajakian) viral for a day. Alan’s poem “The Writing About It Again” was part of a short, animated film (An Armenian Triptych: Retracing Our Steps, made in collaboration with Bajakian and international visual artist Kevork Mourad) that won recognition in several film festivals. Pulitzer Prize winner Peter Balakian has called his first full-length poetry collection, In the Architecture of Bone (GenPop Books, 2009), “well worth your reading.” Alan has been teaching English in public schools for the past twenty five years winning awards for his commitment to education and innovative approach to teaching while recording, releasing, and touring in support of several critically-acclaimed collections of music across a range of genres including alternative rock, Americana, singer/songwriter, free jazz/experimental, and spoken word. He is on the advisory board for the International Armenian Literary Alliance, through which he founded and directs the Young Armenian Poets Awards. He lives in New Hyde Park, NY with his partner and their son.

 

Purchase your copy here.

 

The opinions expressed in this publication are solely those of the editor and authors, and do not represent an official position of the International Armenian Literary Alliance.