Born in Kessab, young Syrian-Armenian poet Sevan Haneshian-Bedourian graduated from the Department of Economics at the University of Latakia and studied Armenology in Aleppo through a two-year program.

Sevan’s husband, Father Karekin Bedourian is the pastor of the Forty Holy Children’s Church of the U.S. Western Diocese of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, and this is the reason why they are currently based in the United States of America. However, they have never become detached from Kessab and Armenia. This time, they are in Armenia again to go sightseeing, visits historic and cultural sites and present Sevan’s new book to President of the Union of Writers of Armenia Eduard Militonyan, who cordially received the young writer, highly appreciated the book’s release and suggested hosting a presentation of the book in Armenia.

On June 15, the Union of Writers of Armenia hosted the presentation of the first anthology of Sevan Haneshian-Bedourian’s poems under the title “Horizons with the Desire for the Sun”.

In this ten-part book, the poet shows the leap of her soul and presents her dreams, thoughts and emotions that disclose the inner world of the writer and the creator. Through her poems, Sevan also expresses her love for her hometown Kessab and shares memories of her childhood and teenage years.

Paying heed to the call of her roots, Sevan and her husband made a pilgrimage to Western Armenia, visited Ani and Van, saw the ruins of the Catholicosate of Sis, St. Arakelots Monastery of Mush and the other monasteries, and Sevan wrote poems based on her impressions of all this.

“I am an economist by profession, but I have always loved the Armenian language and Armenology because I am aware that the Armenian language is the core for preservation of the national identity in the Diaspora. This is what pushed me to publish this book,” Sevan Haneshian-Bedourian said in an interview with Hayern Aysor, adding that her children attend an Armenian school in California and that Armenian is their household language. The book is also scheduled to be presented in Kessab and the U.S.

Sevan Haneshian-Bedourian’s poems have been released in several newspapers publishing in Syria and Lebanon, and in Armenia, her poems have been published in Garoun and Nartsis magazines.

Gevorg Chichyan