Remembering 1915: The 100-Year Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide

Join Somerville Arts Council Literature Artist Fellow Sarah Ignatius for a slide presentation “Remembering 1915: The 100-Year Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide,” on Thursday, May 28, 2015, from 7-9 pm, at the Somerville Central Library, 79 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143. Following the slide presentation, she will read from her young adult novel The Devil’s Kaleidoscope, about a 14-year-old Armenian boy caught up in the genocide.

“I’m honored to be a Somerville Arts Council Fellow this year,” says Ignatius, “and excited to share this presentation during the 100-year commemoration. My hope is to bring alive the richness and beauty of that time while conveying the immense tragedy.” Her novel The Devil’s Kaleidoscope is set in the town where her grandfather was born in historic Armenia, although he left before 1915. “His two sisters stayed behind,” says Ignatius, “but only one survived the genocide and only a few of their children made it. I want to honor them and all the children and teenagers and families who faced the unimaginable with courage and hope. I also want to recognize the bravery of non-Armenians who risked their lives to help, following their own consciences and refusing to let fear rule.”

This presentation blends together Ignatius’ commitment to justice with her love of writing and her personal exploration into family history. “I’m so lucky to have found a way to express what can’t easily be said, and hope to inspire others to do the same.” Ignatius is also a lawyer and executive director of the Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project in Boston, which represents asylum-seekers, who have fled from persecution throughout the world, and immigrants who are unjustly detained.

This event is free and open to the public. This project is funded in part by a grant from the Somerville Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The #88 Lechmere/Clarendon Hill and the #90 Sullivan/Davis buses stop by the Somerville Central Library on Highland Avenue. For more information, contact the Somerville Central Library at 617- 623-5000, or go to www.somervillepubliclibrary.org.