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To mark the launch of the International Armenian Literary Alliance’s New York City Chapter, IALA is hosting a fundraiser featuring special guest and “Cat Person” author Kristen Roupenian, and poet and musician Alan Semerdjian. Join IALA founder Olivia Katrandjian, New York City Chapter Leader Aida Zilelian, and board members for an evening of music and literature.
Click here to RSVP by August 1.
Admission: Please support IALA by donating through Paypal Giving and help them raise $15,000.
Suggested Donations:
“The NYC Chapter will give members the opportunity to meet and connect for cultural events in the city as well share their own literary events for members to attend,” says Aida Zilelian, the chapter leader and award-winning author of All the Ways We Lied. “Members are also encouraged to share their writing in small group workshops for feedback and support. Overall, the NYC Chapter will serve as a way for writers to build community and support each other.”
As Peter Balakian wrote, “investing in the arts is investing in the core continuity of Armenian civilization.” A people is defined by its stories, and by facilitating a resurgence of Armenian literature—literature written by, for, or about Armenians—we are proactively defining our legacy.
Kristen Roupenian is the author of the viral short story “Cat Person,” which appeared in the New Yorker in 2017. The New York Times Book Review called her debut collection, Cat Person and Other Stories, “exciting, smart, perceptive, weird and dark,” and said that it “comes from one of those brains that feel out-of-this-world-brilliant and also completely askew.” Roupenian also wrote the original story for the A24 smash hit Bodies Bodies Bodies, and has several other film and television projects in development. She is currently at work on a novel.
IALA Advisory Board member Alan Semerdjian will perform a short acoustic set of songs for the occasion. Semerdjian is a writer, musician, and educator. His works include In the Architecture of Bone(GenPop Books, 2009), The Serpent and The Crane (a collaboration of poetry and music with Aram Bajakian), and several collections of critically-acclaimed albums covering a wide range of genres from singer-songwriter to free jazz and alternative rock. He has taught English and Creative Writing in public education for 25 years and is currently the poet laureate of New York’s Nassau County.
The International Armenian Literary Alliance is a nonprofit organization launched in 2021 that supports and celebrates writers by fostering the development and distribution of Armenian literature in the English language. A network of Armenian writers and their champions, IALA gives Armenian writers a voice in the literary world through creative, professional, and scholarly advocacy. The organization’s annual programming includes a summer mentorship program, the Young Armenian Poets Awards, Literary Lights reading series featuring new works of Armenian literature in English, Creative Writing and Translation grants, and more. To join IALA or to renew your membership, please visit: armenianliterary.org/membership
