ARLINGTON, Mass. — Among countless books published on the Armenian Genocide, a number of fictionalized accounts of stories of resilience, perseverance and survival have appeared over the years. These works provide a completely different angle on the human experience and perspective on the lives of people on individual level.
On September 11 at 7 p.m., the Boston community will have the opportunity to meet and discuss the subject with the author of As the Poppies Bloomed, Maral Boyadjian. The event is co-sponsored by the Armenian Cultural Foundation, Amaras Art Alliance and the Armenian International Women’s Association. Also, participating in the event is Salpi Ghazarian, director of the Institute of Armenian Studies at the University of Southern California.
Boyadjian’s debut novel, As the Poppies Bloomed, is a fictionalized account of her family’s experience during the Armenian Genocide of 1915, which decimated the families of all four of the author’s grandparents.
As the Poppies Bloom is a love story as well, about 15-year-old Anno and Daron.
Boyadjian, a former preschool director, and partner in her husband’s successful construction business, explains the purpose behind her writing of her book as “to write the kind of book I would want to read, where the characters live and breathe and stay with me long after the last page has been turned.”
As the Poppies Bloomed has received favorable reviews from various sources, including Kirkus Reviews which called it “powerful and sensitive.”
