The genesis of the story is in Gurin, Armenia, during the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of the Genocide, and visits many of the location along the way of the forced migration from the Western Armenian homelands, from Aleppo and Istanbul to Providence and Warwick, in Rhode Island, and Worcester and Lawrence, in Massachusetts.
The exciting atmosphere was further enhanced by the presence of the hosts for the evening, Worcesterites Val and Steve Loring and Judy King. The interview was conducted by Alicia O’Connell Rogers, Youth Librarian of the Worcester Public Library.
Waterman is a writer speaker and women’s rights advocate born and raised in Rhode Island. Growing up in an immigrant, bilingual, multi-generational home with survivors of the Armenian Genocide has shaped the storyteller she has become. Who She Left Behind is her first novel.
