InternationalNew novels inspired by stories of surviving Genocide and its legacy
Published: Wednesday May 18, 2011
Covers of Gray Wolves, Alhambra and The Lamppost Diary.
Three books - by Montreal's Agop Hacikyan, Princeton, N.J.'s John Balian and San Francisco's Mary Kandalian-Aslanian - all recently published follow plot lines of individuals affected by the Armenian experience in Turkey.
Agop Hacikyan's The Lamppost Diary follows the joys, agonies, and escapades-as well as the sexual and political awakenings-of a boy coming of age in difficult times and circumstances.
As an Armenian in Istanbul, nothing is certain for young Tomas, except for the lamppost that he touches every day for luck on his way to school. The lamppost signifies stability as he discovers that adults lie; his body is changing in ways that frighten and enthrall him; and he is unsure of the affections of his young neighbor, Anya.
As the years go by and he explores the wonders of Istanbul and its color, crowds, smells, and tastes, he also grows more aware of events beyond his world, including World War Two, and the specter of the Armenian genocide that haunts his parents.
Ten years pass, and Anya has gone to the United States to study medicine, while Tomas struggles to find his place as a young Armenian man in Turkey. When Anya asks him to join her, masculine pride and empty pockets hold him back.
He becomes the editor of a new literary magazine, and things seem to be going his way until one of his writers is brutally murdered, apparently because of a story Tomas has published.
Can Tomas flee the country and rejoin Anya before getting caught up in the murder investigation?
Agop J. Hacikyan is a Turkish-born Canadian professor and writer of Armenian descent who has lived in Quebec since 1957.
He is the author of several books on literature and linguistics as well as many essays and translations, and five novels, including the international bestseller, A Summer without Dawn (Interlink, 2010).
He is the principal editor of The Heritage of Armenian Literature (Wayne State University). He lives in Montreal.
Book information
The Lamppost Diary
By Agop J. Hacikyan
Interlink Books, an imprint of Interlink Publishing Group, Inc.
ISBN 978-1-56656-855-5
Paperback, $15.00
John D. Balian, M.D. has lived in the locales of "Gray Wolves and White Doves" (ISBN 1439267618), and has witnessed how political and social upheavals have plagued the Middle East. He believes that his unique and timeless story of good versus evil and the perseverance of the underdog will attract a male audience interested in culture, history and politics.
Growing up in a remote Turkish village, Hanna's days are filled with adventure and his father's tales of wonder. But when nighttime falls, Hanna keeps watch with his mother as his father and other villagers protect their families and homes from brigands. Hanna can't imagine life any differently until tragedy strikes and the life he's known and loved abruptly ends. With his family separated and hopes and dreams of the future dashed, Hanna finds refuge in a seminary in Jerusalem.
Now known as Jonah, he cherishes his heritage and newfound identity. Jonah thinks he has finally found a substitute for his loving family and home until he is in the middle of the Holy City's unholy wars. After barely escaping the feared Turkish secret service, he travels foreign lands as a fugitive before being offered a tempting companionship with a secret group. With the idea of time in a Turkish prison sitting in the back of his mind, Jonah must choose between abandoning his principles to carry out a barbaric, revengeful mission or follow a new path towards the New World.
"This novel is the story of a child's search for his self in the middle of the feuds and turmoil of the ever-changing world we live in," Balian says.
Balian hopes that his novel will enlighten readers on the never ending cycle of conflict as seen in the abundance of international clashes in news headlines. With this novel, he intends to offer readers a unique perspective of the experiences many are facing while living in the Middle East.
"Gray Wolves and White Doves" is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.
John D. Balian, M.D. was born in a small village in Anatolia, Turkey and grew up in several Middle Eastern and European countries prior to his emigration to the United States. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Tufts University School of Medicine, and a senior executive of a United States-based global corporation. "Gray Wolves and White Doves" is his first novel.
Author contact information:
John D. Balian, MD
Phone: (609) 429-0404
Email: john@johndbalian.com
Website: www.johndbalian.com
Mary M. Kandalian-Aslanian's novel Alhambra: Shadows of Memory was published at the end of 2010 in Yerevan, Armenia.
It is a story of an Armenian woman, a Genocide survivor, in whose life Alhambra - in the city of Granada, Spain - plays a significant role. On the train to Granada, Maria meets a Gypsy flamenco musician to whom she later confides the life and love story of her grandmother. Her chance encounter on the train and her visit to Granada will change Maria's life, as predicted by the Gypsy.
Mary M. Kandalian-Aslanian is a writer, translator and graphic designer born in Yerevan, Armenia, and graduate of the Yerevan State University's department of Romance-Germanic Languages and Literature.
Since 1983 she has resided in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her short stories and articles have been published in Ararat, Navasard, Milvia Street, The Armenian Observer and Grakan Tert (publication of the Writers Union of Armenia). Some of her short stories are included in collections of modern Armenian-American short stories published by the Writers Union of Armenia. Her first book, Here & There, a collection of bilingual (Armenian, English) short stories was published in 2007. Mary Kandalian-Aslanian is a Diaspora member of the Writers Union of Armenia.
