Meet IALA’s 2024 Israelyan Armenian Translation Grant Recipient and Runner Up
We would like to thank everyone who submitted their work to IALA’s 2024 Israelyan Armenian Translation Grant. This was our second year offering the grant, and we were grateful for the submissions we received. We’re fortunate to have read from so many wide-ranging works from a diverse array of applicants.
This year’s grant was for a work of contemporary literature written by an Armenian in English. We are very pleased to announce that, from the submissions received, the judges have awarded the grant to Lilit Hayrapetyan for translation of Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu. Hayrapetyan will receive a $3,000 grant to complete a translation of Owusu’s book, an autobiography that describes the author’s life as the child of an Armenian mother and a Ghanaian father. The book explores identity, race, nationality, and belonging.
Lilit Hayrapetyan is a Yerevan-based translator and aspiring writer. Since 2016, Lilit has collaborated with Zangak Publishing House, where her translations have become national bestsellers in Armenia. Her portfolio includes psychological non-fiction such as Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman as well as creative non-fiction like Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Lilit holds a BA and an MA in Psychology from Yerevan State University. She has years of experience working with neurodivergent children on adaptation and in women’s rights nonprofits, focusing on women’s mental health. Currently, she serves as a Workshop Team Manager at TUMO Center for Creative Technologies, where she combines her passion for creativity with non-formal education management. She is also working on her debut novel, which explores early attachments and the mental health struggles of navigating life’s paths.
This year, the judges decided to also name a runner up, an applicant who holds great promise: Liana Aramyan.
Born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia, Liana Aramyan, is an undergraduate student of English and Communications at the American University of Armenia. Having taken translation courses at AUA, she has realized translation will be an integral part of her life moving forward. Liana’s credits include an Eastern Armenian translation of Benjamin Moser’s essay “What Susan Sontag Saw”Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize Lecture (forthcoming).
We thank everyone for their submission, and our judges Ovsanna Babayan and Sevak Ghazaryan for their invaluable time.
The 2024 Israelyan Armenian Translation Grant from the International Armenian Literary Alliance was made possible by a generous donation from Souren A. Israelyan, whose funding will ensure more Armenian literature is translated into Armenian. Learn more about the grant, and meet our 2024 Israelyan English Translation Grant and 2024 Creative Writing Grant recipients.