We Armenians have been separated from one of the most brilliant Armenian classical writers – Paruyr Sevak – for the past 47 years, but among the present and absent, he is the literary figure who is present the most with his poetry and aestheticism.

The Armenian community of Saint Petersburg has celebrated the death anniversary of the great poet with literary events several times.

This year, the community organized readings sessions in the Armenian community of the Pushkin region of Saint Petersburg in honor of the 94^th birth anniversary of great Armenian poet, exceptional speaker and thinker Paruyr Sevak.

Among the readers were poet and reciter Eduard Poghosyan; Armenian language teacher of the Armenian Sunday school of the Pushkin region Marine Nazinyan; pianist Arman Nasibyan and Senior Lecturer of Saint Petersburg State University Donara Mkrtchyan. The event also featured a reading of Sevak’s “Yereknuk” (Clover) by the parents of the schoolchildren and Armenian troubadour Shahen’s song “Antsa, Gnatsi” (I Came and Went) dedicated to Sevak.

The guests of the event were representatives of the municipal authorities of Pushkin region and pastor of the St. Katarine Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Petersburg in the Northern-Western region, Friar Poghos Vardanyan.

The literary event was held in an art-café format and was organized by leader of the Armenian community of Pushkin region and Principal of the local Armenian Sunday school Vrezh Melikyan.

The poet’s works, edited books, translations and various videos devoted to him were shown on the screen in the large hall of the café.

Born into a family of a builder in the Chanakhchi village of Armenia, the dark-skinned child was the lucky child who was talented, smart, emotional, had extraordinary academic capabilities, charm and other skills that made him the Paruyr Sevak we know. Over time, his inspiration made him search in an informed manner. Being a great individual, he expressed his thoughts on paper and became the ��?messenger’ of the century.

Every reader has his own understanding of Sevak. One needs to have the right understanding of Sevak’s literary heritage and present it only after breaking through the prism of his soul. One can’t understand Sevak just through the “soul”. Every cell of the organism is in touch with his works.

The community of fans of Sevak in Pushkin region was provided with the opportunity to understand Sevak in this exact way.

The participants of the event also had the opportunity to listen to readings of Sevak’s poems about love, philosophical poems and poems devoted to patriotism.

Sevak is one of the greats that people can constantly talk about, and there will always be something to say about Sevak. His works are simply shown. They ��?coexist’, and the words reflect the world in which every word has a color and a name.

Today, after so many years, we express our respect, gratitude and admiration to him because for Armenians around the world, Paruyr Sevak is the flow of the blood that is still circulating in our veins…

Donara Mkrtchyan

Senior Lecturer of St. Petersburg State University