armenian poetry project
I have been thinking all week of the assassination last Friday in Istanbul of Hrant Dink, a prominent Turkish journalist of Armenian descent, by Turkish Nationalists. While it failed to make news here in the States it sparked International outrage in Europe, Turkey and Armenia. In a BBC report:
"The speaker of Armenia's parliament said the murder showed that Turkey should not even dream about joining the European Union … Hrant Dink was found guilty in October 2005 of insulting Turkish identity after he wrote an article which addressed the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians nine decades ago."
It was this, the world's first genocide, that inspired Adolf Hitler to dream up his Final Solution in the face of world apathy. "After all," he is supposed to have said, "who remembers the Armenians?"
But of course we all do and Armenian culture is very much alive and well, regardless of whether Turkey remains in denial over its actions or not. New York's "peacenik, techno-junky, traveler, potter, yogi and art lover, believer in culture and counter-culture" Lola Koundakjian emailed me today with news of her fascinating blog, Armenian Poetry Project that I recommend everyone to visit. She describes it as:
… a weekly RSS feed of poems written by Armenians from all over the world, 24/7 … The authors are from late 19th century to the present. Some are very famous, others are unknown, still others are budding writers. Their language of expression may not always be Armenian. Translations from the Armenian original will be posted whenever possible. The topics are organized as follows:
* ARMENIA
* ARMENIAN-AMERICAN
* AUDIO CLIPS
* CANADA
* CONTEMPORARY
* DIASPORA
I highly recommend this site to everyone, not just those of us with vested interests in Armenian poets and poetry but for all of us who enjoy good translations. Bravo!
