Hrag Vartanian

The Guardian’s Nicholas Blincoe takes a look at the anti-southwest Asian (aka Middle Eastern) racism of one of England’s most beloved authors, Charles Dickens…turns out Fagin from Oliver Twist isn’t only a slag against Ashkenazi Jews (as is traditionally thought) but a distorted racist vision of southwest Asians in general. The reasons why Dickens feminized [...]

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Recently, I discovered the writing of Jamaican American writer Colin Channer during a bookreading at McNally Robinson on Prince Street. He read from his new novella, The Girl With The Golden Shoes published this year by Akashic Books. The writer has some prominent fans, including Russell Banks, who in his afterwood calls the book [...]

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One of my literary idols, Ian McEwen, spoke with the WSJ for an interview, which was published today and I read this nugget that touched me deeply. It represents a difficult balance that all writers grapple with–some better than others:
“I find it impossible to simultaneously occupy public space and private space — it’s fine to [...]

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In a characteristic move on my part, I have already started obsessing over Amazon’s new Kindle and plan to get one ASAP but Veken seems to think I should wait for more reviews (he’ll force me to wait in line first day at Apple for an iPhone but wants me to wait for this, go [...]

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Poet Zahrad (1924-2007) died earlier this year and hardly anyone noticed.
The Istanbul-based Armenian poet was born Zareh Yaldizciyan and authored eight books of koan-like poems: Big City (1960); Colored Borders (1968); Green Soil (1976); Kind Sky (1971); Two Springs with One Stone (1989); A Sieve of Water (1995); A Tight Fit (2001); and Water Up [...]

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