US Fed News
August 28, 2009 Friday 3:39 PM EST
VARDANANTS DAY ARMENIAN LECTURE ON SEPT. 15 TO COMMEMORATE WILLIAM
SAROYAN’S BIRTH
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 — The Library of Congress issued the following
news release:
As part of an afternoon dedicated to the celebration of the centenary
of Pulitzer Prize-winning Armenian author William Saroyan’s birth,
Dickran Kouymjian will deliver the 14th Annual Vardanants Day Lecture
titled "The Unknown Saroyan" at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, in
the Mumford Room, located on the sixth floor of the Library of
Congress’s James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence
Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.
The four-hour event is free and open to the public; tickets are not
required.
Kouymjian’s speech will be followed by the showing of Saroyan’s 1942
short film, "The Good Job" and the display of one of his scripts from
"Omnibus," the renowned 1950s television series. There will also be a
reading from Saroyan’s works and the presentation and sale of "Young
Saroyan: Follow and Other Early Writings," that encompasses some of
his previously unpublished materials. Edited by William B. Secrest
Jr. with an introduction by Kouymjian, the book was published in March
2009.
William Saroyan was born in Fresno, Calif., in 1908 to Armenian
immigrants. After a difficult childhood that included time in an
orphanage, the self-educated Saroyan set out to become an author. He
became an instant celebrity after the 1934 publication of "The Daring
Young Man on the Flying Trapeze," a collection of short stories. In
1939, his play "My Heart’s in the Highlands" was produced on
Broadway. That same year, his play "The Time of Your Life" earned him
the Pulitzer Prize. His film "The Human Comedy" earned him an Oscar in
1943. The canon of Saroyan’s works include novels, plays, movies
scripts, short stories, and essays, all imbued with depth, humor and
most of all humanity. Saroyan died in 1981.
Dickran Koumjian is the Haig and Isabel Berberian Professor Emeritus
of Armenian Studies at California State University. A friend and
confidant to Saroyan during his final years, Koumjian instituted
courses at Fresno State on the author’s life and works. In 1996, he
received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to
inventory Saroyan’s manuscripts, papers, correspondence and effects in
preparation for their archiving at the University of California,
Berkeley, where he was subsequently appointed the second William
Saroyan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies. He has taken part in
many of the activities associated with the Saroyan centennial in
Paris, Yerevan, Armenia and elsewhere.
The Vardanants Day lecture series is sponsored by the Near East
Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division. The series was
created to explore and present all aspects of Armenian culture and
history. It is named after the Armenian holiday that commemorates the
battle of Avarayr (May, A.D. 451), which was waged by Armenian General
Vardan Mamikonian and his compatriots against invading Persian troops
who were attempting to re-impose Zoroastrianism on the Christian
State. As a religious holiday, it also celebrates Armenia’s triumph
over forces of assimilation.
Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest
federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination
and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by
providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections,
programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be
accessed through its website at and via interactive
exhibitions on a new, personalized website at myLOC.gov.