BELMONT, Mass. — The International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA), the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), and the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information will present the latest in their Literary Lights Series: a conversation with debut author and former NAASR executive director Sarah Ignatius with renowned author and graphic artist Dana Mashoian Walrath in celebration of the launch of Ignatius’ debut novel, The Kaleidoscope of Destiny, on September 22, at 7:30 p.m., at the NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building, 395 Concord Ave.
The program is available for viewing online via Zoom and YouTube.
Walrath has just launched her own immersive graphic history, The Book of Genocides, published by Harvard University Press.
Ignatius and Walrath will reflect on the creative process, their portrayal of the Armenian Genocide, and finding hope and common humanity in times of darkness. A book signing and reception will follow. The program is co-sponsored by the Belmont Public Library. Both books are available for pre-order through bookstores and online, and books will be available for sale in the NAASR Bookstore.
The Kaleidoscope of Destiny, published by Koehler Books, centers around fourteen-year-old Arakel, who dreams of traveling the Silk Road with his two best friends — one Armenian and the other Turkish. But it’s 1915. He is exiled from his home along with his family and nearly every other Armenian. To survive the genocide, he must reach out to people he considers enemies — Arab camel drivers, nomadic Bedouins, Germans, Turks, Kurds, even a wandering dervish — but how can he trust them? The novel explores what lies deep within the human heart and ultimately reaffirms our collective humanity.
The novel begins in Kharpert, where Ignatius’ grandfather was born and where her great-grandfather graduated in one of the earliest classes at Euphrates College in 1881. “Writing this book meant everything to me,” said Ignatius, “although it is not the story of any one of my relatives. They never imagined one of their descendants would return to the place they were forced to abandon. But I went there on NAASR’s 2006 trip to Armenia and Historic Armenia. That experience opened the door to another world for me. Their memory kept me going during all the years of revision and rejection as did the sincere support and extraordinary literary talent of IALA staff, board, and members and my stellar IALA mentor Dana Mashoian Walrath.”
