“Armenian Poetry of our Time” Released by The Press

Staff Report

The Armenian Studies Program and The Press at California State University, Fresno announce the release of Armenian Poetry of Our Time, translated by Diana Der-Hovanessian. The American-born poet has won national and international awards for her translations and poetry in Armenia and the Diaspora. Armenian Poetry of Our Time is the third book published in the recently established Armenian Series at The Press, under the supervision of Series Editor Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Director of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State.

Armenian Poetry of Our Time is a collection of Armenian poems that spans a broad period of modern Armenian literature. It will be a valuable addition not only to Armenian studies, but also to western poetry. Der-Hovanessian, is a well-known poet and author of 25 books of poetry and translations, whose earlier work, the groundbreaking Anthology of Armenian Poetry, appeared more than thirty years ago.

The works of 117 poets, all originally composed in Armenian, are presented in this anthology. The poets are themselves from either Armenia or live in the Armenian Diaspora.

There are excerpts of poems translated from the literary giants of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Daniel Varoujan, Siamanto, Vahan Tekeyan, Avedik Issahakian, Indra, and Bedros Tourian.

The works of noted Diasporan writers such as Vasken Shushanian, Zahrad, Nigoghos Sarafian, Antranig Dzarougian, Vahe Oshagan, and Zareh Melkonian are also included among the translated poems. Their works explore themes that are different from the earlier writers, as they were composed post-Genocide, but they reflect the pain of exile.

Some works, by poets from Armenia or Karabagh, have been translated into English for the first time. Armenian Poetry of Our Time is a comprehensive volume that will introduce Armenian poetry to the non-Armenian speaking literary world. It is a valuable addition to the corpus of recent books that have begun to present the works of Armenian poets in translation.

Diana Der-Hovanessian was Fulbright professor of American poetry at Yerevan State University in 1994 and 1999. She is, according to former book editor of the Boston Globe Herbert Kenney, not only the foremost translator of Armenian poetry into English but also a striking and original poet herself. According to the Times Literary Supplement she is a brilliant poet who has opened up the book of her people to the English-speaking world.

Copies of Armenian Poetry of Our Time may be ordered by calling The Press at 559-278-3056.