SAS Webinar Series: We Are All Armenian
The Society for Armenian Studies (SAS), the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), and IALA are delighted to invite you to a webinar on We Are All Armenian: Voices from the Diaspora (2023), featuring Nancy Agabian, Raffy Boudjikanian, Carene Rose Mekertichyan, and Aram Mrjoian. The webinar will feature readings from the book’s contributors and a round-table discussion. The event will take place virtually on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at 10:00 AM Pacific | 1:00 PM Eastern | 9:00 PM Armenia Time. Free attendance.
Zoom Meeting: For the link, please email SAS Executive Secretary Flora Ghazaryan at execsecretary.sas@gmail.com
Nancy Agabian is a writer, teacher, and literary organizer, working in the intersections of queer, feminist, and Armenian American identity. She is the author of the poetry/performance collection Princess Freak (Beyond Baroque Books, 2000) and the memoir Me as her again: True Stories of an Armenian Daughter (Aunt Lute, 2008). Her 2023 novel, The Fear of Large and Small Nations, was a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction and the Foreword Indies Award in Multicultural Fiction. Since 2012, she has been teaching her own creative writing workshops that focus on social issues as well as craft.
Raffy Boudjikanian is a Canadian-Armenian journalist and author. He has reported from a number of places around the world, including Nicaragua, France, and Canada. Raffy’s first book, Journey through Genocide: Stories of Survivors and the Dead (Dundurn Press, 2018) is a personal exploration of three modern crimes against humanity as the writer visits Darfuri refugees in Chad and survivors of the Tutsi Genocide in Rwanda and reflects on his own ancestors’ fate in Kharpert, modern Turkey during the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Carene Rose Mekertichyan is an artist, organizer, educator, and proud Angelena. As a Black Armenian woman, she is drawn to storytelling that centers marginalized narratives and firmly believes that true art exists to spark empathy and create social change. Her identity and upbringing in Los Angeles inform both her art and intersectional activism. She received her training from Dartmouth College and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Carene serves as the Artistic Associate for Social Justice at Independent Shakespeare Co., Program Coordinator at Support Black Theatre, and is co-author of the LA Anti-Racist Theatre Standards and a Blklst Contributor.
Aram Mrjoian is a writer, editor, critic, and educator. He earned a PhD in creative writing at Florida State University and an MFA at Northwestern University. Aram has also served as a creative writing mentor or instructor at the Adroit Journal, 826, Hugo House, StoryStudio, and Open Books Chicago. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Runner’s World, Literary Hub, Catapult, West Branch, Electric Literature, Gulf Coast, Boulevard, Joyland, Longreads, and many other publications. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of The Rumpus. His debut novel, Waterline, is forthcoming in 2025.
