Reinventing Armenia: Poetry after the Genocide, by Catherine Fletcher. Co-edited by Lola Koundakjian. Family (2008), by Hagop Hagopian, courtesy of the artist, http://www.hagopianart.com by Catherine Fletcher; poetry co-edited by Lola Koundakjian. The years from 1915 to 1921 were the turning point in modern Armenian history.  During 19th century Ottoman and Russian domination, Armenians experienced... 

An Interview with Lola Koundakjian, by Catherine Fletcher Family (2008), by Hagop Hagopian, courtesy of the artist, http://www.hagopianart.com An Interview with Lola Koundakjian by Catherine Fletcher So, 2012 looks like it’s going to be an important year for Armenian literature. It’s been declared the Year of the Armenian Book, and Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, is UNESCO’s Book Capital this... 

Zahrad Co-edited by Catherine Fletcher and Lola Koundakjian. Zahrad (1924– 2007), the pen name of Zareh Yaldizciyan, was an Armenian poet.  He was born and lived in Istanbul, Turkey, a city which he celebrated in many of his poems. He began writing under a pen name because he felt that his family would not be receptive to his work.  He was the author of eight collections of poetry including The... 

Paruyr Sevak Co-edited by Catherine Fletcher and Lola Koundakjian. Paruyr Sevak (1924 – 1971), by birth Paruyr Rafaeli Ghazarian, was an Armenian poet and literary critic. Sevak was born in Soviet Armenia and studied at Yerevan State University and Gorky Institute of World Literature in Moscow. A doctor of philology, Sevak was one of the senior researchers of the Manuk Abeghyan Yerevan Institute... 

Nigoghos Sarafian Co-edited by Catherine Fletcher and Lola Koundakjian. Nigoghos Sarafian (1902-1972) was born on a ship going to Bulgaria and was educated in Armenian and French schools in Bulgaria. During World War I he and his brother were thrown onto the roads of Bessarabia (now Moldova) and the Crimea until he arrived in Istanbul, then under postwar Allied occupation. He lived there until... 

Now in her 83rd year, the Iranian poet Simin Behbahani has written 10 collections of poetry, won several human rights awards, been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature, and—most recently—been named MTVU’s Poet Laureate. For most of her poetic career she has been known for reinventing the ghazal in the Persian language. by Catherine Fletcher “I write, I cross out, to find what I’ve... 

Litterroir explores the flavors of place distilled through poetry. Catherine Fletcher explores the world of verbal art in lesser translated languages, traditions, and the intersections of the oral and written word. Read More →

by Catherine Fletcher Like the French wine-making term from which it derives its title, Litterroir offers the flavors of a place—through the most distilled form of language: poetry. Literary investigations. Excavations . Digging. My desire to get closer to the ground begins with Haiti. In the immediate aftermath of January’s earthquake, major news outlets buzzed with reports of damage, of survival,...