Editors Tatevik Ayvazyan and Naneh V. Hovhannisyan announced recently the release of the winter 2024 special issue of the Wasafiri Magazine for contemporary international writing. This landmark edition, Armenia(n)s: Elevation, is guest co-edited by the UK-based duo and will be published on December 6.
In some 170 pages, it offers a multi-genre selection of specially commissioned works or their debut translations into English. The Armenian Special features an unprecedented array of established and new writers from Armenia and the Diaspora.
From poetry and fiction to thought-provoking book reviews, art, life writing and in-depth interviews, Wasafiri 120 is a rich tapestry of modern Armenian voices. It offers readers a profound and eloquent exploration of the human condition through meditations on the Armenian language, culture, and identity.
Hovhannisyan said, “This is a showcase — by no means exhaustive — of the creative force of our community and of the vital themes to us right now. We’re honoured to be sharing it with anglophone readers and to be contributing in this small way to cross-cultural literary links.’’
“This issue is a jukebox of contemporary Armenian writing,“ added Ayvazyan. “Alongside heavyweights such as Krikor Beledian, Nancy Kricorian, Aram Pachyan, Khatchig Mouradian and Narine Abgaryan, we introduce emerging talent — Perla Kantarjian, Shogher Sargsyan, Garine Boghossian, and others. It’s a pity we didn’t have another hundred pages for many more exciting works.“
The result of over two years’ meticulous work with some fifty-plus contributors, the volume is part of Wasafiri‘s rich back catalogue, comprising works by distinguished and prize-winning authors such as Chinua Achebe, Anita and Kiran Desai, Sam Selvon, Nadine Gordimer, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Michael Ondaatje, and Vikram Seth.