YAPA Winners

“It’s hard not to think of the prompt for this year’s Young Armenian Poets Awards (YAPA) as a dark harbinger of things to come for the Armenian people of Artsakh and, indeed, all Armenians around the globe. This notion of visibility and how it relates to our identity and experience is now profoundly impacting us to our very core, as nearly all of Artsakh’s 120,000 residents have been forced to leave their homeland and have become refugees,” wrote YAPA’s founder and director Alan Semerdjian in his introductory statement for h-pem, that graciously collaborated with IALA for the third year in a row.

In 2023, the theme of “Visibility” resonated deeply as the Armenian people face challenging times, particularly in Artsakh. The lack of media coverage and international support is disheartening, leading many to feel as though they are disappearing before their own eyes. However, YAPA continues to shine a spotlight on these issues through the power of poetry. The 2023 winning, and honorable and special mention poems offer poignant reflections on identity, remembrance, and resistance.

Congratulations to winners Isabel Nargizian, Sofia Viana Ogulluk, Vladimir Mkrtchian, and honorable and special mentions, Alessandra Agopian, Anjelika Atayan and Alisa Tavadyan! And a huge thank you to our excellent judges—Gregory Djanikian, Armine Iknadossian, and Raffi Wartanian—for their insightful commentary on the winning works.

Follow the links below to read the winning poems and commentary: