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A "California Harvest" Yields New Crop of Talent

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  • A "California Harvest" Yields New Crop of Talent

    AGBU PRESS OFFICE
    55 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022-1112
    Phone (212) 319-6383
    Fax (212) 319-6507
    Email [email protected]
    Webpage www.agbu.org

    PRESS RELEASE
    Monday, May 24, 2004

    A "CALIFORNIA HARVEST" YIELDS NEW CROP OF TALENT

    New York - ARARAT's fall 2003 issue examines the talents emerging
    from America's West Coast, where Armenians have a long history in the
    arts. Entitled, "California Harvest," the collection gathers together
    the work of 20 writers and artists.

    Edited by awarding winning journalist, Mark Arax, and novelist
    Aris Janigian, the special West Coast edition includes work by
    established figures, including Aram Saroyan, Peter Najarian, and
    Micheline Aharonian Marcom, along with a wealth of emerging talents,
    including Michael Simonian, Armen Hogtanian, Daniel Melnick, Jeanette
    Arax Melnick, Silva Dakessian, Shahé Mankerian, Vic Jabrassian and
    David Mushgain.

    The special issue includes an exclusive excerpt from the
    much-anticipated release of Markar Melkonian's memoir/biography,
    Terrorist, Saint, that tells the complicated and intense story of his
    brother, Monte Melkonian, a figure renowned as a freedom fighter and
    champion of the Armenian cause.

    Other works include Simonian's radical "24110," which as the editors'
    note, "provocatively centers a nuclear waste disposal site near the
    Capital Mall in Washington," a short story by Saroyan that takes a
    satirical look at Hollywood life, Janigian's correspondence with the
    L.A. Times over their use of the term "alleged" in reference to the
    Armenian Genocide, and the emotionally charged images of Jabrassian
    that form a stark contrast with the coolness of Mushgain's photography.
    Arax and Janigian have gathered together a bounty of works that reflect
    a new multifaceted reality. The coeditors write in their introduction:
    "Today, Armenian-Americans have committed themselves to artistic
    propositions that feel unparalleled in their scope and depth, and
    one cannot help sensing that this vitality is the first stirring
    of a renaissance the likes of which we may not have seen since the
    Turks swept away the great generation of Varoujans and Siamantos in
    the Genocide."

    Available through AGBU, copies of ARARAT's California Harvest can be
    ordered by phone, 212.319.6383, or email, [email protected]. Individual
    issues are $7. Since 1960, ARARAT Quarterly has been a leading voice
    in Armenian-American writing, culture and ideas. Published by AGBU,
    ARARAT showcases established and emerging talent with an interest in
    representing the richness of the Armenian experience in America and
    around the world.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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