Nearly 71 foreign language writers from Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora participated in the opening ceremony of the 5^th Conference of Writers of Armenian Origin Composing in Other Languages, which was held at the Writers’ Home in Tsakhkadzor on July 12^th. The event is organized by the RA Ministry of Diaspora and the Union of Writers of Armenia.

In his opening remarks, President of the Union of Writers of Armenia Levon Ananyan mentioned that “such conferences have been organized on a regular basis since 2005”. “We’re trying to further strengthen the bonds between writers in Armenia and the Diaspora. The works of writers of Armenian origin composing in other languages are being translated and printed in Armenian. We express our gratitude to the RA Ministry of Diaspora for its ongoing support to publish the works and for standing by our side. The ministry’s support has helped expand the geography of Armenian foreign language writers visiting Armenia, and brilliant evidence of that is the fact that there are 20 new poets participating in this conference.”

RA Deputy Minister of Diaspora David Karapetyan greeted the participants of the conference and transmitted RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan’s welcoming remarks.

“This joint program organized by the RA Ministry of Diaspora and the Union of Writers of Armenia is called for contributing to the consolidation of the potential of writers of Armenian origin composing in other languages, making their works more popular and strengthening the writers\’ bonds with the homeland,” as stated in Hranush Hakobyan’s message.

The minister urged the writers to stand united as one in raising key issues of national concern and expressed certainty that most of the Armenian foreign language writers would write about crimes against humanity as we approach the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Vice-President of the World Armenian Congress Vladimir Aghayan transmitted the welcoming remarks of President of the World Armenian Congress Ara Abrahamyan and attached importance to the fact that the conference provides the opportunity for the writers to communicate with each other.

Expressing gratitude to the RA Ministry of Diaspora for organizing such a conference, Director of the AGBU Armenia Representation Arpi Vartanian mentioned that it’s difficult to preserve the Armenian identity abroad and that in this sense writers of Armenian origin composing in other languages play a huge role in the Armenian upbringing of the new generation of Armenians in the Diaspora. Arpi Vartanian also mentioned that the AGBU always sponsors such events with pleasure.

Among speakers were renowned Armenian American writer Peter Surian, Paris-based writer Juliet Grigoryan and Director of “Diaspora” Scientific and Educational Center, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor Suren Danielyan.

Writer, publicist Artem Harutyunyan gave a speech on William Saroyan’s literature, and Peter Surian presented the novel “Miri”.

During the second half of the day, the participants of the conference will also watch Von Pilikyan’s film “Assembly Two” and will visit the Kecharis monastic complex.