Yeghishe Charents: Poet of the Revolution

A Pablo Neruda of Armenian poetry, a Walt Whitman, a Nazim Hikmet in the Armenian tongue, unbridled, humanist, lover of life, revolutionary, communist and patriot, Yeghishe Charents (1897-1937) was a peak of 20th century poetry. He lived through WW1, the Armenian Genocide, the 1917 Russian Revolution and the rise and triumph of Stalinism. In his turbulent career, Charents' volcanic, thoughtful, emotional poetry never lost its zest for life, for justice, for humanity, for equality, for decency, for love and hope. Today in our own turbulent, menacing and gloomy times, Charents' poetic legacy is an invitation to optimism for humanity, an urging to resist all that which diminishes life.
Accomplished literary critic and the Armenian Institute’s librarian Eddie Arnavoudian will tell us about Charents's life and work. Readings of selected poems in Armenian and in English translation will also take place throughout the evening, encouraging us to re-discover this crucial Armenian figure through a new light.
This event is part of Heritage of Displacement: Oral Histories from the UK Armenian Communities (2023–2026), funded by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, thanks to National Lottery players.

About Eddie Arnavoudian

Eddie Arnavoudian has been passionate about Armenian literature, history, and politics since the mid-1990s when he remastered the wonderful Armenian language. Across two decades and more, he has contributed comments and evaluations that have been published on The Critical Corner which is an integral element of the hugely valuable Groong/Armenian News Network founded and edited by Asbed Bedrossian.

Host or Publisher Armenian Institute