"When a writer feels talent, he bursts to go ahead."
Doctor in Philology Diana Hambardzumyan, a professor of Linguistics from Yerevan State Linguistic University after V. Brusov, as well as a prose writer and literary translator, recently made a short-term visit to Val-David, Montreal where she had been invited to take part in the International "Writer-in Residence" Program.
Taking advantage of her visit, the Regional Executive Board of Hamazkayin Canada along with "Horizon Grakani" organized on July 23, in Montreal, an event focused on the current situation of the Armenian literature. At the same time, the Regional Executive Board of Hamazkayin Canada organized the same event in Toronto.
It is quite a difficult task to organize an event in Toronto on Mondays even if it is a private literary soiree. However, on July 28, 2014, at 8: 00 pm, about 60 writers and fans of literature, in the presence of Der Komitas Senior Priest Panossian, gathered in Armenian Center’s "Harutyun Manoogian" library to listen to Dr. Hambardzumyan.
Tamar Donabedian taking the floor on behalf of the Regional Executive Board of Hamazkayin Canada briefly introduced the guest and gave her to the audience.
Dr. Hambardzumyan expressed her gratitude to the Regional Executive Board of Hamazkayin Canada and spoke about her literary-creative activity and achievements. Her father is from Kajaran City of Syunik Marz situated on the east slope of the Zangezur mountain range. Her mother is from Tiflis. Her father used to write diaries, and the library occupied a special place in their house. Actually, she has always lived in the world of books since her childhood and was very much interested in literature since then. She successfully completed her secondary education and graduated from Yerevan State Linguistic University with Honors Diploma. For more than 30 years, she has been teaching the English Language and Translation Skills there. She is married, has two children and two grandchildren. She started to write at a very young age, and, "Garun" and other magazines published her writings.
She has written more than fifty articles, specific textbooks and 18 books. Her most famous novelettes, novels and stories are "Milky way", "Across the Burnt Bridges" (on Armenian-Azeri relations), "Grief and Troubles since Time of Noah", "In the God-inhabited Country", "A Knock at the Door," etc.
Her novel “In the God-inhabited Country” won the prize of the "Armenians in the 21st Century" Contest. She is also the author of numerous literary translations such as the novel by the famous American writer Kurt Vonnegut "Bluebeard".
She earned her PhD Degree in 1990 and the Doctor’s Degree in 2007. The first research was focused on the poetry of the famous English poet of the 19th century Percy Bysshe Shelly, and the second was on the linguo-stylistic analysis of William Faulkner’s works. Her stories translated into 13 languages are included in the Armenian-English bilingual book "Top 10 Stories" translated by her former students. It is undoubtedly a great satisfaction for the author. Since 2004, she has been a member of the Armenian Writers’ Association.
When we asked Dr. Hambardzumyan about her preferences between the life as a doctor professor and the life as a writer, her answer really surprised us. She said, "Actually, writing is my life, and the professor’s work is what I do for living".
The axis of Diana Hambardzumyan’s works is the individual, the human being. As a writer, she has been greatly influenced by the Armenian and foreign literature and the life, with its vicissitudes. The problems of today’s Armenia, troublesome economic situation, injustice, corruption and migration are the main issues touched upon in her novels and stories.
Speaking about the contemporary Armenian writers, Dr. Hambardzumyan expressed satisfaction to have enjoyed the presence of the great Armenian writers Levon Khechoyan and Hrant Matevosyan and the honor of being their contemporary. She also spoke about the prose writer, translator Ruben Hovsepian and Gurgen Khanjyan whose famous novel "Hospital" has become a movie.
Any writer is satisfied only when her published books find their readers. She sincerely says, "I won´t write if I don’t have readers". According to Diana Hambardzumyan, her writing style has changed over the years, which is natural. Nevertheless, the axis of her novels and stories remain the same human, beggar, soldier and the deprived of rights….
The troubled days of the nineties in Armenia certainly had great impact on all segments of the society.
Speaking about the new generation of writers, she said that at present there are talented young writers in Armenia who write about the subjects bothering them.
Actually, the environment affects any artist. She mentioned the names of the young writers such as Aram Pachyan (Bird), Hrach Saribekyan (The Sun of Twins), Ara Husik....
She said, "However, the writers need the government’s support. Unfortunately, when at present a writer applies for a state support to publish his book, he receives only two copies of his published book in the end".
Referring to translation work, she, along with other names, recalled the names of Samvel Mkrtchyan and Lilit Galstyan.
It was interesting to hear about the "literary agency", the founder of which is her former disciple. When a writer publishes a book, not only his immediate environment should recognize it. Such an agency seeks ways to make the people know about the book both in Armenia and abroad and thus lightens the burden on the writer’s shoulder. Book publishing is one thing, but spreading a book is another thing. In both cases, according to Hambardzumyan, the government should support the writers.
When they asked her why there was no word about the Armenian writers of diaspora in her speech she said she knew them well enough and could talk about it. However, the topic of the day was the situation of the Armenian literature in Armenia. Later she praised the Armenian poet Zahrat from Istanbul and recalled Jacob Khachikyan’s name.
This was Dr. Diana Hambardzumyan’s second participation in the International "Writer-in Residence" Program. Her first participation was in Vienna, where she stayed for two months in 2011. In March 2015, she was invited to Munich, Germany where the book “Telegram to Fatima" translated by her into German was published.
Dr. Hambardzumyan completed her speech reading an extract from her novel "A Knock at the Door". In the end, Tamar Donabedian presented Vazken-Shoushanian’s book "Turbulent Years" to her on behalf of the Regional Executive Board of Hamazkayin Canada. The book "Turbulent Years" has been the first edition of "Oshakan" bibliographic series edited by the Regional Executive Board of Hamazkayin Canada.
We can continually discuss issues concerning the situation of today’s Armenian literature, contemporary writers and writers of the past, environment impact on writers within their lifetime, criteria to evaluate the contemporary Armenian writers, changes made in the Armenian language, stylistic differences between the languages of prose and poetry. Nevertheless, translating the foreign literature into Armenian is certainly praiseworthy. What do we need to make the foreigners recognize the Armenian literature? How can we help the Armenian writers win the world awards?
Tamar Donabedian
