GLENDALE—Poet and experimental artist Karén Karslyan will be in town to present his newly released book written in Eastern Armenian titled, “No Other Words: Haikus” (Ոչ մի ուրիշ բառ). The event will be held on Sunday, January 26 at 5 p.m., at The Center for Armenians Arts, located at 250 N. Orange St. in Glendale, California.
Karslyan will also give a special multimedia presentation at the event titled, “The Evolution of Patriotic Armenian Poetry from the 19th to the 21st Centuries.”
Introductions will be given by Dr. Tamar M. Boyadjian and Hayk Makhmuryan.
“No Other Words” is an experimental collection of haikus composed exclusively of the words from Yeghishe Charents’ “My Sweet Armenia.” Through the haikus crafted with the technique of constrained writing, Karslyan engages in a dialogue with Charents, at times poking fun, and at times raising profound questions about contemporary matters, identity, recent wars, and love.
Karén Karslyan (b. 1979) is a poet, visual artist, translator, holds a PhD in English and is the chairman of the Writers for Peace Committee of PEN Armenia. He is the author of six books including, “Lezvi Tsayrin” (On the Tip of the Tongue), a collection of poetry (Granish, 2022); and “Aterazma,” a typographic film-novel (Inknagir, 2016). His Armenian translation of “Lust” by Kathy Acker was published by Inknagir in 2015.
Karslyan’s writing has been featured in anthologies across multiple languages, including English, Spanish, and French. His performative lectures of “Aterazma” have been hosted by Coimbra University (2018) and the University of Michigan (2022). His visual art includes flipbooks and video art pieces that have been exhibited at film and art festivals. He is the recipient of the Granish Best Short Story Award (2024) and Best Poetry Award (2021), as well as NPAK’s Young Artists Award (2004). In 2003, he was recognized as Armenia’s “Scandalous Writer of the Year” by Public TV. Born and raised in Armenia, he now lives in Wisconsin.
Presented by Abril Bookstore. Admission is free and the program will be in Armenian.
For more information, call (818) 243-4112. 90 minutes free parking is available in structure.
