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'MY MOTHER'S VOICE': A DAUGHTER'S ACCOUNT OF HER MOTHER'S SURVIVAL
by Lilly Torosyan
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/04/03/my-mothers-voice-a-daughters-account-of-her-mothers-survival/
April 3, 2013
Dr. Kay Mouradian's novel, My Mother's Voice, tells the biographical
story of the writer's mother, Flora Munushian, and her journey of
surviving the genocide as a young teenage girl.
Dr. Kay Mouradian's novel, My Mother's Voice, tells the biographical
story of the writer's mother, Flora Munushian, and her journey of
surviving the genocide as a young teenage girl.
The idea for the novel came decades later, when Munushian became ill,
impelling Mouradian to write about her mother's past. "Often I felt
like a detective as I tried to piece together scenes that became
pieces of a puzzle. Researching and writing my mother's story opened
avenues of discovery and knowledge that have enriched my understanding
of life," she tells the Weekly in an interview.
Mouradian is professor emerita at the Los Angeles Community Colleges.
After retiring, she developed yoga and acupuncÂture strategies to
improve her health, and after her mother's illness, pursued writing
as another avenue of healing.
"There are some in the literary community who say, 'If you want to
know the facts, read a newspaper, but if you want to know the truth,
read a novel.' That statement resonated in my brain. Feeling a deep
responsibility to history, I decided to write my mother's story as
a novel to paint the truth of 1915 on a larger canvas," she said.
All of the characters in My Mother's Voice are either real or based
on real people. A couple of characters were created to reflect on the
truth of the time, Mouradian explained. "For example, Constantinople
was the center for white slavery in the early 1900â~@²s. I needed to
develop the possibility that Armenian girls could have been snared
into harlotry. Can I be specific to whom it happened? No, but the
threat was there," she said, adding that "there is an element of
truth in every scene in my mother's story."
A film based on the novel premiered at the Pomegranate Film Festival
in Toronto last October, and received Honorable Mention for Best
Documentary. It was later screened as an official selection at the
ARPA film festival in Los Angeles. My Mother's Voice serves as a
sequel to A Gift in the Sunlight, Mouradian's first novel, also about
her mother's life.
To purchase the novel, My Mother's Voice, visit Mouradian's website
at www.kaymouradian.com. It is also available through Amazon.
From: Baghdasarian
by Lilly Torosyan
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/04/03/my-mothers-voice-a-daughters-account-of-her-mothers-survival/
April 3, 2013
Dr. Kay Mouradian's novel, My Mother's Voice, tells the biographical
story of the writer's mother, Flora Munushian, and her journey of
surviving the genocide as a young teenage girl.
Dr. Kay Mouradian's novel, My Mother's Voice, tells the biographical
story of the writer's mother, Flora Munushian, and her journey of
surviving the genocide as a young teenage girl.
The idea for the novel came decades later, when Munushian became ill,
impelling Mouradian to write about her mother's past. "Often I felt
like a detective as I tried to piece together scenes that became
pieces of a puzzle. Researching and writing my mother's story opened
avenues of discovery and knowledge that have enriched my understanding
of life," she tells the Weekly in an interview.
Mouradian is professor emerita at the Los Angeles Community Colleges.
After retiring, she developed yoga and acupuncÂture strategies to
improve her health, and after her mother's illness, pursued writing
as another avenue of healing.
"There are some in the literary community who say, 'If you want to
know the facts, read a newspaper, but if you want to know the truth,
read a novel.' That statement resonated in my brain. Feeling a deep
responsibility to history, I decided to write my mother's story as
a novel to paint the truth of 1915 on a larger canvas," she said.
All of the characters in My Mother's Voice are either real or based
on real people. A couple of characters were created to reflect on the
truth of the time, Mouradian explained. "For example, Constantinople
was the center for white slavery in the early 1900â~@²s. I needed to
develop the possibility that Armenian girls could have been snared
into harlotry. Can I be specific to whom it happened? No, but the
threat was there," she said, adding that "there is an element of
truth in every scene in my mother's story."
A film based on the novel premiered at the Pomegranate Film Festival
in Toronto last October, and received Honorable Mention for Best
Documentary. It was later screened as an official selection at the
ARPA film festival in Los Angeles. My Mother's Voice serves as a
sequel to A Gift in the Sunlight, Mouradian's first novel, also about
her mother's life.
To purchase the novel, My Mother's Voice, visit Mouradian's website
at www.kaymouradian.com. It is also available through Amazon.
From: Baghdasarian