Literary Lights 2024: A Reading Series Featuring New Works by Armenian Authors
IALA, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), and the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center will host Literary Lights 2024, their second annual monthly reading series featuring new works of literature by Armenian authors. Each event—held online—will feature a writer reading from their work, followed by a discussion with an interviewer and audience members.
Our next event—featuring The Prospectors by Ariel Djanikian—will take place on March 9th! Keep an eye on our website and socials for the exact dates of each event. Read along with the series by purchasing titles from the IALA Bookstore powered by Bookshop or the NAASR Bookstore.
All the Ways We Lied by Aida Zilelian
Tololyan Literary Prize recipient Aida Zilelian explores the reality of love and loss in the everyday lives of a modern-day Armenian family in her forthcoming novel, All the Ways We Lied. Missed the event? Watch here!
Available at: IALA Bookstore | NAASR Bookstore | Abril Books. Learn more here.
The Prospectors by Ariel Djanikian
Selected by Barnes & Noble as their book-of-the-month for October, Ariel Djanikian’s newly-released The Prospectors is a sweeping rags-to-riches story of survival and greed across American history following a family transformed by the Klondike Gold Rush. This event will take place virtually on March 9th, 1:00 PM Eastern. Register to attend!
Available at: IALA Bookstore | NAASR Bookstore. Learn more here.
BÁBO by Astrid Kamalyan and Anait Semirdzhyan
Join Tato and her family as they help Bábo (grandmother) on rug-washing day in this sweet and playful picture book tribute to Armenian cultural traditions. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection that has earned starred reviews from Kirkus, The Horn Book, and Publishers Weekly, Bábo was selected as one of the New York Public Library’s 2023 Best Books for Kids. This joint event will take place virtually on April 13th, 12:00 PM Eastern.
Available at: IALA Bookstore | NAASR Bookstore | Abril Books. Learn more here.
Lost Words by Leila Boukarim and Sona Avedikian
What is it like to walk away from your home? To leave behind everything and everyone you’ve ever known? Poetic, sensitive, and based on a true family history, this picture book follows a young Armenian boy from the day he sets out to find refuge to the day he finally finds the courage to share his story. This joint event will take place virtually on April 13th, 12:00 PM Eastern.
Preorder at: IALA Bookstore and NAASR Bookstore. Learn more here.
The Palace of Forty Pillars by Armen Davoudian
Wry, tender, and formally innovative, Armen Davoudian’s forthcoming debut poetry collection, The Palace of Forty Pillars, tells the story of a self estranged from the world around him as a gay adolescent, an Armenian in Iran, and an immigrant in America. This event will take place virtually on May 4th, 1:00 PM Eastern. Register here.
Preorder at: IALA Bookstore and NAASR Bookstore. Learn more here.
Jagadakeer: Apology to the Body by Lory Bedikian
Winner of the 2023 Raz-Shumaker Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry, Jagadakeer: Apology to the Body builds a eulogy in poems, claiming loss, the body’s failure, often interrupted with monologues and rants. The voice is that of a daughter of immigrant parents from Lebanon and Syria, of Armenian descent, now gone. (Event date TBA.)
Preorder at: IALA Bookstore.