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CITY'S ARMENIAN HERITAGE ATTRACTS AMERICAN AUTHOR
Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Citys-Armenian-heritage-attracts-American-author/articleshow/12012539.cms
Feb 24 2012
CHENNAI: Feedback from his youngest and oldest readers is what
first-time author John D Balian values the most.
His youngest fan is his son John, who now wants to be called Jonah
after the central character in his book 'Gray Wolves and White Doves',
while the oldest is an 80-year-old man from Bengaluru who wrote him
a letter of appreciation. "I didn't expect my story to have such
resonance," he said.
The Armenian-American doctor was in Chennai on Thursday to launch
his book based on the persecution of Armenians in Turkey during the
1960s and '70s. "All the events in the book are real, based on my own
experiences or those of my family, though it is a work of fiction. I
have moved the events around to make the story flow better," said
Balian, who was born in a remote village in eastern Turkey. He fled
persecution from neo-fascists and migrated to the US when he was 16.
The book, set in Turkey, Armenia, Syria and Jerusalem, talks of how
Armenians were persecuted 50 years after the genocide of 1915 to 1919
when 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks.
"Many books have been set during the genocide, which Turkey still
does not acknowledge. My book is different in that it goes 50 years
later to show how attitudes have still not changed. Even today,
that sentiment exists among neo-fascists," he said, referring to the
example of Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk getting into trouble over
using the word 'genocide' to refer to the killings.
Balian, who is looking for a distributor in India, said he chose
Chennai for the India launch because he has visited the city many times
while working for an healthcare corporate, and is familiar with its
strong Armenian heritage. "At the St Thomas Mount church, there are
inscriptions in Armenian and Portuguese. There is an Armenian Church
and street here and the world's first Armenian journal was published
here 300 years ago," he said.
From: Baghdasarian
Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Citys-Armenian-heritage-attracts-American-author/articleshow/12012539.cms
Feb 24 2012
CHENNAI: Feedback from his youngest and oldest readers is what
first-time author John D Balian values the most.
His youngest fan is his son John, who now wants to be called Jonah
after the central character in his book 'Gray Wolves and White Doves',
while the oldest is an 80-year-old man from Bengaluru who wrote him
a letter of appreciation. "I didn't expect my story to have such
resonance," he said.
The Armenian-American doctor was in Chennai on Thursday to launch
his book based on the persecution of Armenians in Turkey during the
1960s and '70s. "All the events in the book are real, based on my own
experiences or those of my family, though it is a work of fiction. I
have moved the events around to make the story flow better," said
Balian, who was born in a remote village in eastern Turkey. He fled
persecution from neo-fascists and migrated to the US when he was 16.
The book, set in Turkey, Armenia, Syria and Jerusalem, talks of how
Armenians were persecuted 50 years after the genocide of 1915 to 1919
when 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks.
"Many books have been set during the genocide, which Turkey still
does not acknowledge. My book is different in that it goes 50 years
later to show how attitudes have still not changed. Even today,
that sentiment exists among neo-fascists," he said, referring to the
example of Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk getting into trouble over
using the word 'genocide' to refer to the killings.
Balian, who is looking for a distributor in India, said he chose
Chennai for the India launch because he has visited the city many times
while working for an healthcare corporate, and is familiar with its
strong Armenian heritage. "At the St Thomas Mount church, there are
inscriptions in Armenian and Portuguese. There is an Armenian Church
and street here and the world's first Armenian journal was published
here 300 years ago," he said.
From: Baghdasarian