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PRESS RELEASE | February 18, 2015 | Contact: Roxanne Makasdjian
Join GenEd & the UC Berkeley Armenian Studies Program for an evening
with Dana Walrath, author of Like Water on Stone, a novel in verse for
young adults
Tuesday, March 10, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
Vaspouragan Hall
51 Commonwealth Ave, San Francisco
Like Water on Stone is a young adult novel in verse about the Armenian
Genocide of 1915. This haunting novel tells the story of
fourteen-year-old twins Shahen and Sosi who flee into the mountains
when Ottoman pashas implement their plans to eliminate all
Armenians. The orphaned twins and their younger sister hide by day and
run at night, crossing mountain ridges and rivers red with
blood. Lyrical language wraps the description of the Armenian genocide
in a note of magical realism with Ardziv, an eagle, describing the
children’s escape.
Dr. Walrath will speak about her experiences in Armenia as a Fulbright
Scholar, her travels to Western Armenia in 1984 and how these journeys
influenced the book, which is being adapted as an animated film,
premiering in Armenia in April, 2015, in commemoration of the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Dana Walrath is the granddaughter of survivors of the Armenian
Genocide. She earned a PhD in anthropology from the University of
Pennsylvania, an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and
a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University. She completed Like
Water on Stone (Delacorte/Random House, 2014), her first novel, during
her year as a Fulbright Scholar in Armenia working on a project for
her award-winning graphic memoir series Aliceheimer ‘s (Harvest,
2013). When not in the mountains of Armenia, she lives in the
mountains of Vermont where she is on faculty at the University of
Vermont’s College of Medicine.
Praise for Like Water on Stone:
* 2015 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People & 2015
Notable Book for a Global Society
* “A shocking tale of a bleak moment in history, told with stunning beauty.” Publisher’s Weekly, starred review
* “I have walked through the remnants of the Armenian civilization in
Palu and Chunkush; I have stood on the banks of the Euphrates. And
still I was unprepared for how deeply moved I would be by Dana
Walrath’s poignant, unflinching evocation of the Armenian genocide.
Her beautiful poetry and deft storytelling stayed with me long after I
had finished this powerful novel in verse.” -Chris Bohjalian, author
of The Sandcastle Girls and Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands
Hosted by The Genocide Education Project and the UC Berkeley Armenian
Studies Program. For more information, email
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or call
(415) 264-4203.
Dr. Dana Walrath
—
The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3)
organization that assists educators in teaching about human rights and
genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide, by developing and
distributing instructional materials, providing access to teaching
resources and organizing educational workshops.
Copyright © 2015 The Genocide Education Project, All rights reserved.