GLENDALE—Author Karén Karslyan will release his new book in Armenian titled, “The Regime is in Panic.” The book launch will be accompanied by a special slideshow presentation, as well as a discussion of contemporary Armenian revolutionary movements. The event will be held on Saturday, July 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Abril Bookstore, located at 415 E. Broadway, Glendale, CA 91205. Admission is free with reception to follow. Karslyan will be introduced by activist Hayk Makhmurian.

“The Regime is in Panic,” a documentary tragicomedy consisting of 21.5 acts and 168 dramatis personnae, unearths the roots of the 2018 revolution of love and solidarity in Armenia going as far back as 1996. The most significant movements associated with the presidencies of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan, and the premiership of Nikol Pashinyan are depicted from the perspective of the notorious phrase “the regime is in panic.” Various derivatives of this phrase have, for decades, been periodically exploited by numerous public and political figures (such as Nikol Pashinyan, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Artashes Geghamyan, Zaruhi Postanjyan, etc.). 91 out of 300 pages are Karén Karslyan’s authentic animated illustrations of the following remarkable revolutionary movements: “Levon, Go Away!” (1996); “Struggle, Struggle Until the End” (2008); “The Revolution of Hello” (2013), “Electric Yerevan” (2015), “Hostage Crisis of Sasna Dzrrer” (2016) and “My step” (2018). Some of these illustrations will be exhibited during the presentation at Abril Bookstore.

Directed by Nanor Petrosyan, and staged at the Tech Degh theater, the premiere of the play took place in Yerevan, on June 18.

Karén Karslyan is a poet, novelist, translator, musician, and a visual artist. He is the author of “The Regime Is in Panic,” a tragicomedy (Actual Art, 2019),”Aterazma,” a typographic film/novel (Inknagir, 2016), “Doomed to Spell,” a collection of deformed hayrens (Inknagir, 2010), “X Frames/Sec,” a collection of works including a minimalist novel of the same name and a few poems (Bnagir, 2003). Armenia’s public TV declared him the Scandalous Writer of the Year 2003 for X Frames/Sec. He is the recipient of 2004 Young Artists Award for the manuscript of Password, a novel in progress.