In honor of LGBTQ Pride Month, the International Armenian Literary Alliance, with Hye-Phen Magazine and the Queer Armenian Library, hosted Aracheener, or “Firsts,” on June 12, 2021. Watch the recording below!
It was a reading and discussion among several LGBTQ Armenian writers about the development of queer Armenian literature over the past few generations. Each of the writers, working in various genres, and representing diverse gender, sexual orientation, age, class, and geographical backgrounds, has achieved a historical first and in one case, two: Arlene Avakian is not just the author of the first Armenian American memoir by a queer woman, but the first Armenian American memoir by any woman.
Moderator J.P. Der Boghossian, founder of the recently launched The Queer Armenian Library (also a first), facilitated a discussion among Armen Ohanyan, Kamee Abrahamian, Lee Williams Boudakian, Nancy Agabian, Arlene Avakian, and Michael Barakiva about their work’s relationship to the queer, Armenian, and queer Armenian communities, and their understanding of the sometimes paradoxical nature of being a “first”.
The Hye-Phen was first launched in 2014 as an online magazine and global collective. Since then, our mission continues to connect and build community among queer Armenian artists, scholars, and writers, and amplify what’s been under-spoken for so long: our stories, challenges, ideas, dreams, and visions for the future. We proudly operate today as a fully independent, queer, Armenian-run digital media platform and publishing collective, carving out a space that celebrates free expression, sharing histories, imagining utopia, and dismantling dystopia in and beyond the Armenian community.
Launched in 2020, The Queer Armenian Library is exclusively dedicated to literature by, about, and for Queer Armenians. The library collects and showcases essays, memoirs, novels, poetry, films, TV series, and art installations from the early 20th century through today.
Designs by Flo Low. Find more of Flo’s work at www.flolow.co.uk, and follow them on Instagram at @boy.florence.
