LOS ANGELES — The International Armenian Literary Alliance’s fourth annual mentorship program will run from July 1 through August 31, 2024, with mentorships for writers of the novel, memoir, creative nonfiction, short story, poetry as well as literary translation from Eastern or Western Armenian into English. Mentors will read and provide feedback on their mentee’s writing and speak virtually with their mentee throughout the program to discuss the writing life, the mentee’s work and how to navigate the publishing industry. At the end of the program, IALA will host an Emerging Writers Showcase to feature the mentees’ work. Applications are now open through April 14, 2024.
“In my role as the director of the mentorship program, I am constantly impressed by the wealth of talent among the emerging writers in the Armenian community,” says IALA’s Mentorship Program director Shahé Mankerian. “Equally inspiring is the dedication of our experienced mentors who volunteer their time to support and uplift our aspiring Armenian voices.”
IALA also announced three new annual grants for one writer and two translators whose work-in-progress show exceptional literary and creative ability. Application opens on September 1st until September 30th, 2024, and winners will be announced in December 2024. Its Creative Writing Grant will award $2,500 annually to one Armenian writer whose work-in-progress shows exceptional literary and creative ability. After awarding poets and fiction writers in previous years, the grant will be awarded in 2024 for a work of creative nonfiction. The 2024 grant will be judged by Susan Barba, Aram Mrjoian and Nadia Owusu.
IALA’s Creative Writing Grant, made possible by a donation from the Armenian Allied Arts Association, is meant to foster the development of contemporary Armenian literature in English through an annual monetary award, and support Armenian writers who have historically lacked resources in the publishing world.
The Israelyan English Translation Grant from IALA will award $3,000 to one translator working from Armenian (either Western or Eastern) source texts into English, whose work-in-progress shows exceptional literary and creative ability. In 2024, the grant will be awarded for a work of literature (in any literary genre) written in Armenian and published any time after 1900.
Given the traumatic history of the Armenian diaspora, many readers are unable to read works in the original Armenian, and therefore, have centuries of literature inaccessible to them. Translators working with Armenian texts have traditionally lacked resources in the publishing world, as well as access to other funding, due to the overwhelming influence of so-called “majority languages.” IALA’s Israelyan English Translation Grant, made possible by a donation from Souren A. Israelyan, supports translators working with contemporary Armenian literature through a monetary award.
