Description
Book SynopsisA collection of essays about Armenian identity and belonging in the diaspora.
Trade ReviewThe 18 essays in this collection delve into questions of Armenian identity, belonging and displacement from the perspective of a community whose past often goes unacknowledged. * New York Times *
Every essay from this compelling group of featured authors brings a unique and powerful perspective on what it means to search for one’s authentic identity when disconnected from homeland, language, and heritage. Textured and emotionally resonant, these entries ask the question What does it mean to be 'Armenian enough'? Together, the anthology honors the history of the lives lost and forever changed by the Armenian Genocide and resulting diaspora and charts a course forward through the power of telling and retelling important stories. It’s both a stunning achievement and a welcome addition to our literary record. * Chicago Review of Books *
Part party and part opera—both delightful and wrenching, altogether joyful...Each essay builds on the last, deepening the reader’s understanding of the multi-generational impact of genocide on families and prompting contemplation on notions of ethnicity. The essays do not flinch in the face of sometimes harrowing events, but every one also offers sweetness, grace, and resolve to face these truths and to move forward with hope and compassion. It’s an exquisite collection of essays. * TriQuarterly *
With passion and insight, the writers [in
We Are All Armenian] explore and express the joys of and obstacles to constructing an affiliation with their ethnic and diasporic communities that does not bind them to a prescribed mode of identity and belonging. Often inventive and surprising, these accounts of searching for association without unwelcome constraints will enrich the still-expanding narrative on expressive and analytic discourses of minority identities and commitments...Highly recommended. * CHOICE *
A lovely, much-needed compilation that presents a culture of great import, examining diasporic experiences in deeply-felt prose. * Nowruz Journal *
Table of Contents
- Editor’s Note
- Introduction
- How Armenian Funeral Halva Helped My Family Find Home in America (Liana Aghajanian)
- Hava Nagila (Naira Kuzmich)
- “Where Are You From? No, Where Are You Really From?” (Sophia Armen)
- An Inter/Racial Love History (Kohar Avakian)
- Language Lessons (Nancy Kricorian)
- A Good, Solid Name (Olivia Katrandjian)
- My Armenia: Imagining and Seeing (Chris McCormick)
- Inside the Walls: Reflections on Revolutionary Armenians (Nancy Agabian)
- Going Home Again (Chris Bohjalian)
- Lost and Found (Aline Ohanesian)
- A Letter to My Great-Grandson (Raffi Joe Wartanian)
- Open Wounds (Anna Gazmarian)
- Բառէրը-the Words (J. P. Der Boghossian)
- The Road to Belonging (Raffy Boudjikanian)
- The Story of My Body (Hrag Vartanian)
- Valley View: An Armenian Diasporic Account in Lieu of a Glendale Biennial Review (Mashinka Firunts Hakopian)
- Perspectives on Artsakh from a Black Armenian Angeleno (Carene Rose Mekertichyan)
- We Are All Armenian (Scout Tufankjian)
- Acknowledgments
- Reading List of Armenian Writers
- Notes on the Contributors
