Ara Baliozian
Ara Baliozian 
| |
|---|---|
| Name in Armenian | Արա Պալիոզեան |
| Birthplace | Athens |
| Birth date | 10 December 1936 |
| Resides in | Ontario |
| Death place | Ontario |
| Death date | 2019/12/07 |
| Death year | 2019 |
| Profession | Writer |
| Languages | Armenian, English |
| Ethnicities | Armenian |
| Dialects | Western Armenian |
Biography & Works
Compiled By Shant Norashkharian
Ara Baliozian is one of the greatest Armenian contemporary writers, but unfortunately most Armenians do not know about him or his works. He has published close to 20 books over the last 20 years and is acclaimed highly by the foreign media, like Gosdan Zarian and Shahan Shahnour before him, which goes to prove that our anti-establishment writers are not rejected because of the literary quality of their works, but only because of their ideas and their criticism of the Armenian establishment. Armenian papers used to publish his commentaries/book reviews, but lately he has been ignored by most of them (Armenian Life Weekly and New Life (Nor Gyank) which had been publishing his writings for years, among other papers, have been turning down his works lately). He is sixty years old, and lives in seclusion and poverty in Ontario, Canada.
Baliozian's last book, PAGES FROM MY DIARY (1986-1995), distributed by Armenian Reference Books Company, PO Box 231, Glendale, Ca 91209, Tel. (818) 504-2550, is only 96 pages long but speaks volumes. Here is the summary of his biography from the back cover of this book:
- "Armenian by ancestry, Canadian writer Ara Baliozian was born in Athens, Greece, and educated in Venice, Italy. Widely published in English and Armenian, he has been awarded many prizes and grants for his literary work. He is a regular to many publications in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. His books include THE GREEK POETESS AND OTHER WRITINGS, ARMENIA OBSERVED: AN ANTHOLOGY, FRAGMENTED DREAMS: ARMENIANS IN DIASPORA, and the best-selling study THE ARMENIANS: THEIR HISTORY AND CULTURE. His translations of such Armenian classics as Krikor Zohrab, Zabel Yessayan, and Gosdan Zarian have been described as "valuable", "eloquent", "brilliant" contributions to world literature. He has himself been translated into French, German, Greek, Spanish, and Armenian."
Shant Norashkharian has full authorization from Ara Baliozian to reprint any of his works/writings on the Internet/World Wide Web.
A Short Bibliography
Writings by Ara Baliozian:
- Baliozian, Ara. Book Reviews/Interviews (Los Angeles, CA: G Printing, 1982).
- "Dreams/Nightmares," "Haiku," and "The Human Condition," poems in Armenian-American Poets: A Bilingual Anthology, ed. and trans. Garig Basmadjian (Detroit, MI: Alex Manoogian Cultural Fund of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, 1976).
- Fragmented Dreams: Armenians in Diaspora (Kitchener, Ont.: Impressions, Publishers, 1987).
- In the New World (New York: Voskedar, 1982).
- Intimate Talk (Kitchener, Ont.: Impressions, Publishers, 1992).
- Pages From My Diary, 1986-1995 (Kitchener, Ont.: Impressions, Publishers, 1996).
- Portrait of a Genius and Other Essays (Los Angeles, CA: A/G Press, 1980).
- That Promising Reality: New Vision and Values, the Armenian Revival (Kitchener, Ont.: Impressions, Publishers, 1992).
- The Armenians: Their History and Culture (Toronto, Ont.: Kar Publishing House, 1975).
- The Armenians: Their History and Culture (New York: Ararat Press, 1980).
- The Armenian Genocide and the West (Jerusalem: Armenian Case Committee, 1984).
- The Call of the Crane, The Ambition of a Pig (New York: Voskedar Publishing Corp., 1983).
- The Greek Poetess and Other Writings (Kitchener, Ont.: Impressions, Publishers, 1988).
- The Horrible Silence (Pasadena, CA: Maral Press, 1982).
- Undiplomatic Observations (Kitchener, Ont.: Impressions, Publishers, 1995).
- Voices of Fear (Kitchener, Ont.: Impressions, Publishers, 1989).
Articles by Ara Baliozian:
Ara Baliozian has written literally hundreds of articles for the Armenian-American press. A few of them are listed below:
- Baliozian, Ara. "A Timely Essay/The War of Images," Armenian Reporter (March 11, 1982).
- "Larousse and the Genocide," Armenian Life Weekly (March 28, 1986).
- "Views and Opinions: A Discussion on Terrorism," Armenian Reporter (June 9, 1983).
Writings translated and/or edited by Ara Baliozian:
- Baliozian, Ara, ed. Armenia Observed (New York: Ararat Press, 1979).
- Armenian Wisdom: A Treasury of Quotations and Proverbs (Glendale, CA: Armenian Reference Books Co., 1992).
- From Plato to Sartre: Wisdom for Armenians (Glendale, CA: Armenian Reference Books Co., 1995).
- Granian, Puzant. My Land, My People, trans. Ara Baliozian (Los Angeles, CA: Narek Publishing, 1978).
- Zarian, Gostan. Bancoop and the Bones of the Mammoth, trans. Ara Baliozian (New York: Ashod Press, 1982).
- The Island and the Man, trans. Ara Baliozian (Toronto: Kar Publishing House, 1983).
- The Traveller and His Road, trans. Ara Baliozian (New York: Ashod Press, 1981).
- Yessayan, Zabel. The Gardens of Silihdar and Other Writings, trans. Ara Baliozian (New York: Ashod Press, 1982).
- Zohrab, Krikor. Zohrab: An Introduction, trans. Ara Baliozian (Cambridge, MA: National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, 1985).
Writings about him:
Terzian, Lawrence. Preserverance: Ara Baliozian and the Armenian Cause (Kitchener, Ont.: Impressions, Publishers, 1990).
Other Resources
- Ara Baliozian Writing - example of some of Baliozian's recent writing.
External Links
Material on this page is COPYRIGHT (C) Shant Norashkharian, and used with permission.