October 21, 2008

Queering New York

You are invited to

Gartal

an Armenian literary reading series

featuring

Milena Abrahamyan
Christopher Atamian
Aida Zilelian-Silak

Wednesday November 12
6-8 pm
downstairs at the Cornelia Street Cafe
29 Cornelia Street
between W 4th and Bleecker
West of 6th Ave in Greenwich Village
Subway: ACEBDFV to W 4th St
212 989-9319 for reservations and info
$10 cover includes a drink
http://armeniandrama.org/GARTAL.php

About the Readers

Milena Abrahamyan is majoring in Creative Writing, Psychology and Women's Studies at Hunter College. Her poetry and prose, which can be viewed on her blog www.inarmenia.blogspot.com, concentrate on themes of coming into her own as an Armenian, queer woman.  She is working on a memoir about immigrating from Armenia at ten years of age and how growing up in New York City has shaped her. She is passionate about women and their stories and hopes that by telling her own story she can reach other women who find themselves in a similar disposition.

Christopher Atamian is a writer, producer and director.  His creative work has appeared in Ararat Magazine, The Armenian Poetry Project and  www.yevrobatsi.org, where he writes a column on culture and politics.  He recently completed his first novel, "Speaking French," a coming of  age story about a precocious Armenian boy and his adventures in the New York City of the eighties.  He has translated Nicholas Sarafian and written a one woman play about Zabelle Yessayan. Christopher has directed and/or produced six short films, including a dance film "Psychic Data Mining" with choreographer Luke Wiley and "Shad  Shakar Mi Ooder" with Melissa Boyajian and Nancy Agabian.  He produced the 2004 Armenian International Film Festival of New York with Anahid Kassabian and the 2006 OBIE Award-wining play "Trouble in Paradise" at the Hudson Guild Theater.  He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, The Village Voice, Dance Magazine, The New York Press, and the Beirut Star.  He is currently working on a book of criticism on Armenian film entitled "Deconstructing Ararat," and a feature-legth film script on the poet Hart Crane.  Christopher is a graduate of Harvard, Columbia and USC and attended Collegiate School in New York City.

Aida Zilelian-Silak is an English teacher at Long Island City High School. She has written two novels - "The Girl Who Cried Tuscany", a series of stories about her experiences growing up in American as a first-generation American-Armenian, and "The Hollowing Moon", about a young girl escaping from her family and traveling through the Midwest. Her short story "With Great Affection, Sophie" was recently published in the April issue of Pen Pusher magazine in London.

ABOUT GARTAL: Since December 2002, Gartal ("to read" in Armenian) has been an independent forum for both established and emerging writers of Armenian descent and/or writers dealing with Armenian themes to read their poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and dramatic texts to the public. Coordinated by writer Nancy Agabian, Gartal brings together, via the dual acts of reading and listening, diverse Armenian constituencies, from the progressive to the traditional. A particular effort is made to give voice to Armenian stories that haven't been widely heard, including those of mixed race, various religions, different economic backgrounds, and gay and lesbian Armenians. For more information about the series, visit http://armeniandrama.org/GARTAL.php or email nancyagabian@gmail.com.

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