On April 14, AGBU Toronto—with the participation of the Armenian Association of Toronto and the Bolsahay Cultural Association—hosted a conversation between Salpi Ghazarian, the director of the Institute of Armenian Studies at the University of Southern California, and Maral Boyadjian, the author of the award-winning novel As the Poppies Bloomed. The conversation between the two sisters touched on family history with vivid recollections of growing up with their maternal grandmother, a genocide survivor.

During the event, the audience learned about the mythical village of Salor, as Boyadjian summarized the first chapter of her novel. She also described her five years of research, writing, publishing and distribution, with a goal of completing As the Poppies Bloomed in time for the 2015 centennial commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

When asked about her inspiration for the book, Boyadjian explained: “My daughter came home from college one weekend and said ��?Mom, my friends don’t know about the Armenian Genocide.’ That’s when a lightbulb went off in my head and I decided right then and there that I was going to write that book–something anyone could read, something interesting yet informative, where the characters live and breathe and stay with you long after the last page has been turned.”

She also made reference to the scenery and the people she encountered in the village of Sassoun, on which she bases the village of Salor. Describing her experience in Sassoun, Boyadjian said: “I wept when I saw hills and fields just as I had imagined them. Even the hues and tones of the deep red soil were as I had known they would be. It was the very earth my grandfather had walked on.”