2024 Young Armenian Poets Awards: In Honor of Tamar Asadourian
The International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA), in partnership with h-pem, is proud to open the 2024 Young Armenian Poets Awards in honor of Tamar Asadourian, an annual contest that recognizes and provides a platform for exceptional Armenian writers between the ages of 14 and 18.
This year’s entrants are asked to submit work that explores the idea of “home.” Responses may consider physical spaces such as buildings and land as well as more abstracted notions such as the sanctuary of language, memory, or the one suggested in Naguib Mahfouz’s words: “Home is not where you were born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease.”
We encourage submissions from any young writer who identifies as Armenian, no matter gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, national origin, socio-economic class, educational background, personal style/appearance, citizenship and immigration status, or political affiliation.
Submissions will be read and judged by IALA Advisory Board members Gregory Djanikian, Arminé Iknadossian, and Raffi Wartanian. This year, a total of $600 will be granted to the authors of the three most outstanding poems as selected by our judges ($200 for each author). Winning poems will be published online on IALA’s and h-pem’s respective websites in the fall of 2024. Winning authors will be invited to read their work at IALA’s annual Emerging Writers Showcase and receive a copy of Tamar Asadourian’s poetry collection, I remember you my future…
Tamar Asadourian (1980-2020) was an accomplished pianist, author and artist. At 16, she performed at Carnegie Hall, and was acclaimed as “an absorbing artist of uncommon sensitivity and intelligence.” While studying at the Manhattan School of Music, Asadourian was forced to give up the piano due to illness. She suffered from severe depression, and dedicated herself to writing, drawing and the arts. After her untimely death, a collection of her poetry, prose and artwork was published in a volume entitled I remember you my future… (Naregatsi Art Institute, Yerevan, Armenia, 2022). Read more of Asadourian’s writing here, and read Lilit Keheyan’s reflections on her work here.
We are looking to honor work that exhibits invention, technical skill, and the emergence of a unique voice or vision.
The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on June 2nd, 2024. Awards are expected to be announced in the fall of 2024.
Read previous winning poems and watch our 2023 Emerging Writers Showcase.
YAPA 2024 is made possible by a generous donation from members of Tamar’s family, Sam and Tamig Ekizian.
Guidelines
- Poems must be no longer than fifty lines.
- There are no strict requirements with regard to form or content other than responding to the prompt in a direct or indirect way.
- Poems must be submitted in English (translations are welcome but the translator must be credited).
- No personal information (including author names) should appear on the submission, as the work will be read anonymously.
- Writers must identify as Armenian.
- Writers must be between the ages of 14-18 at the time of submission.
- Recipients of the Young Armenian Poets Awards must wait a year before re-entering.
- Writers may submit no more than three poems per submission and make only one submission.
- All poems must be in the same document, and each must start on a new page.
- Poems should be submitted in 12 point font, Times New Roman, and single-spaced with standard margins (1 inch on each side of the page unless the aesthetic of the poem calls for variations).
- Poems should be submitted as .pdf, .doc, or .docx files.