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The Daily News, North Dakota
Sept 27 2013
Author to speak in Wahpeton
Turcotte will share excerpts from `Nowhere: A Story of Exile'
By Carrie McDermott - Daily News [email protected] The
Daily News | 0 comments
Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, a Wahpeton High School graduate, will be
a guest speaker at several locations in Wahpeton next week.
Turcotte is the author of `Nowhere: A Story of Exile,' which describes
the ethnic cleansing committed against Armenians by the Azerbaijan
government. She was recently awarded with the Mkhitar Gosh Medal, the
Armenian government's highest civilian honor awarded for notable
state, public and political activities as well as significant services
in the areas of diplomacy, law and political science.
Turcotte's family was forced to flee from the city of Baku in the
Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan when she was just a child, when the
majority Muslim Azeri population violently drove the minority
Christian Armenians from the country. Her family fled to Armenia but
faced prejudice there and didn't speak the language.
After applying for refugee status, the family came to live in Wahpeton
in January 1992, when she was 14.
Turcotte, an attorney, will speak about adjusting to life in the
United States and the writing process, which evolved into her book, as
well as those who made the book possible. She became a U.S. citizen in
1997.
`It feels great coming back to Wahpeton this way, discussing the
plight of Armenians in Azerbaijan and many Armenians who are currently
in danger in Nagorno-Karabakh,' she wrote in an email.
Of being awarded the Mkhitar Gosh Medal on Armenia's Day of
Independence, she said, `It makes my parents and friends incredibly
proud of me. I am humbled and thankful to the Armenian people and
government for such an honor and will continue to work toward
Karabakh's freedom, toward Baku pogrom (ethnic cleansing), awareness
and the prosperity of the Republic of Armenia.'
Turcotte is married with two children and lives in Maine. Her parents,
Norik and Irina Astvatsaturov, still reside in Wahpeton.
Turcotte will speak from 2-3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1 at the Harry Stern
and Ella Stern Cultural Center on the North Dakota State College of
Science campus. The event is sponsored by the NDSCS Diversity Council
and the Mildred Johnson Library.
Later that afternoon, she will give an informal reading and discussion
at Antoinette's on the River, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Her book will be
available at both events and she has offered to do book signings.
On Wednesday, Oct. 2 she will speak to English classes at Wahpeton
High School to discuss the writing process and offer advice to
students who aspire to become writers. At 5:30 p.m. she will speak at
Bethel Lutheran Church. Engagements in Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks
and Mayville are also scheduled for next week.
http://www.wahpetondailynews.com/news/article_5aaddd7a-2789-11e3-9a7d-0019bb2963f4.html
Sept 27 2013
Author to speak in Wahpeton
Turcotte will share excerpts from `Nowhere: A Story of Exile'
By Carrie McDermott - Daily News [email protected] The
Daily News | 0 comments
Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, a Wahpeton High School graduate, will be
a guest speaker at several locations in Wahpeton next week.
Turcotte is the author of `Nowhere: A Story of Exile,' which describes
the ethnic cleansing committed against Armenians by the Azerbaijan
government. She was recently awarded with the Mkhitar Gosh Medal, the
Armenian government's highest civilian honor awarded for notable
state, public and political activities as well as significant services
in the areas of diplomacy, law and political science.
Turcotte's family was forced to flee from the city of Baku in the
Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan when she was just a child, when the
majority Muslim Azeri population violently drove the minority
Christian Armenians from the country. Her family fled to Armenia but
faced prejudice there and didn't speak the language.
After applying for refugee status, the family came to live in Wahpeton
in January 1992, when she was 14.
Turcotte, an attorney, will speak about adjusting to life in the
United States and the writing process, which evolved into her book, as
well as those who made the book possible. She became a U.S. citizen in
1997.
`It feels great coming back to Wahpeton this way, discussing the
plight of Armenians in Azerbaijan and many Armenians who are currently
in danger in Nagorno-Karabakh,' she wrote in an email.
Of being awarded the Mkhitar Gosh Medal on Armenia's Day of
Independence, she said, `It makes my parents and friends incredibly
proud of me. I am humbled and thankful to the Armenian people and
government for such an honor and will continue to work toward
Karabakh's freedom, toward Baku pogrom (ethnic cleansing), awareness
and the prosperity of the Republic of Armenia.'
Turcotte is married with two children and lives in Maine. Her parents,
Norik and Irina Astvatsaturov, still reside in Wahpeton.
Turcotte will speak from 2-3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1 at the Harry Stern
and Ella Stern Cultural Center on the North Dakota State College of
Science campus. The event is sponsored by the NDSCS Diversity Council
and the Mildred Johnson Library.
Later that afternoon, she will give an informal reading and discussion
at Antoinette's on the River, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Her book will be
available at both events and she has offered to do book signings.
On Wednesday, Oct. 2 she will speak to English classes at Wahpeton
High School to discuss the writing process and offer advice to
students who aspire to become writers. At 5:30 p.m. she will speak at
Bethel Lutheran Church. Engagements in Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks
and Mayville are also scheduled for next week.
http://www.wahpetondailynews.com/news/article_5aaddd7a-2789-11e3-9a7d-0019bb2963f4.html