About
The Queer Armenian Library is the world’s first digital library dedicated exclusively to literature by, about, and for Queer Armenians. The library showcases essays, memoirs, novels, short stories, poetry, television, music, comedy, art, and films.
Why a Queer Armenian Library?
As far as we know, there is no, and has been no, library dedicated exclusively to literature by, about, and for Queer Armenians.
How do I search through the library?
There are a few ways. First, you can scroll through the homepage. Second, you can go the Discover page to search by keyword or by category (novel, memoir, poetry, transgender, lesbian, etc.).
Who put the Library together?
J.P. Der Boghossian curates the library.
How did J.P. conduct the search?
It wasn’t as simple as going to a physical library, or even an Armenian bookstore. Credit needs to be given to Unzipped: Gay Armenia and The Hye-Phen Magazine. They were a digital light in the darkness. In addition, the websites of Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society, Equality Armenia, AGLA NY, Ianyan Magazine, AJAM Media Collective, PINK Armenia, Right Side NGO, and Equality Armenia were essential in creating this library.
From there, J.P. searched through online Armenian newspapers, online catalogs of Armenian bookstores, online retailers (Abebooks, Amazon, Thrift Books, Book Depository, Better World Books, Barnes and Noble, Half-Priced Books, etc) and academic search engines (ProQuest, JSTOR, Google Scholar, etc.)
What types of literature are included in the library?
Fiction, memoir, creative nonfiction, poetry, film, art installations, and musical performers/composers.
Is this an exhaustive search of all Queer Armenian writing?
Unfortunately, no. Because of the nature of searching for texts in a diaspora it is inevitable that some authors or books, essays, poems, films, etc. were missed. If you are a writer, or if you know of a text, that isn’t in the Library, please use the submission page to share it with us.
A note of gratitude from J.P.
Thank you to Olivia Katrandijan for championing the Library, acting as a sounding board, reading through every post prior to the launch, and for being a great friend.
Thank you to my partners Jim and Gordy for your encouragement and feedback, as well as putting up with my incessant talking about the project — and the string of late nights it took me to make this happen.
Are there any anti-LGBTQ publications?
Nope.
What about journalism?
The Library will include journalism, including any editorial, on an on-going basis. The initial focus has been on literature as defined above, but there has been significant growth in journalistic reporting on Queer Armenian issues and that needs to be reflected here.
What about academic literature?
There is a rich and nuanced academic literature emerging on this topic, however it is not as accessible as we would prefer it to be for people outside of higher education.
However, as it is possible to do articles, academic texts, masters theses, and dissertations will be curated on here. As much possible, there will be links to publicly available copies.
Just English?
The library is currently limited to the English language, or texts translated into English.
Does the search continue?
Yes. If you know of a text that isn’t part of the library, please let us know. Please submit your own published work so we can share it here too!
