Hovhaness tumanyan biography of christopher
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Writer Hovhannes Tumanyan and Mariam Tumanyan met in 1892, in a publishing house, where they were both working. He was an amateur writer, she was a new board member. The Countess wrote that when they met, the poet immediately captured her attention.
“He had a very fine face, and was smiling all the time. His sparkling eyes were reflecting his poetic spirit and I could see in those eyes so many emotions and an excitement that would never let me ignore his personality.”
Mariam and Hovhannes would write letters to each other often. When they were together, they would spend hours discussing culture and Armenia. They would call each other soulmates.
Mariam was so obsessed with Tumanyan and his poetry that her husband would sometimes call him “Your Pushkin.” Soon, Tumanyan became a good friend of the Tumanovs and was under the patronage of the Countess. The writer was struggling as a novice writer and faced crippling financial problems. Over the years, Mariam was supporting him not only financially but also also psychologically, she wouldn’t let him give up. In her memoirs, the Countess describes Tumanyan with all his flaws and insecurities. She remembers how many times she was angry at him for his irresponsibility in financial matters. Yet this was not just a simple friendship
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Generation Independence: Armenia’s Literary Superheroes
A vibrant young cohort of experimental writers is transforming Armenian literature.
THEY’RE LOOSELY KNOWN as Generation Independence. This cohort of wonderfully vibrant, experimental Armenian writers, now all in their 30s and early 40s, are exciting as much for the lyrical and literary qualities of their work as for what they have to say about war and peace, love and sexual relations, everyday life and the human condition. These young talents — Aram Pachyan, Anna Davtyan, Hovhannes Tekgyozyan, Armen Ohanyan, and the others touched upon below — were mere children when Armenia gained independence; thus, Soviet rule never had a major impact on their writing. Linguistically experimental, they successfully play with both form and content. Part Beat, part Nouveau Roman, part feminist lit, their work is often critical toward the state, touching upon previously banned topics such as sexuality, war, and crime, as well as more personal issues such as the search for identity and self-discovery.
When Armenia declared independence from the USSR in 1991, emotions ran high both at home and among the far-flung Armenian diaspora, yet a puzzling silence reigned in the world of letters. In a country with almost universal literacy, w
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